Horseback riding helps relieve stress for some people, particularly those with special needs. It even goes beyond that; those individuals are often changed for the better after they climb on a horse saddle for the first time.
Stirrups and Smiles is a non profit organization located in Pangburn, Ark., that provides therapy to special-needs people of all ages and abilities using equine assisted therapy, or therapeutic horseback riding.
Stirrups and Smiles splits the session with riders into two 30-minute periods. The first half is spent with a therapist in a room and the second half is spent outside on a horse. The child or adult sits on the horse while the therapist stands alongside the duo, teaching the person how to ride the horse. Beyond teaching participants how to ride, therapeutic horseback riding can also teach about companionship, responsibility, confidence, leadership and vocational and educational skills.
Hippotherapy is a treatment strategy that uses a horse as a means for special needs individuals to improve their lives through interaction with a horse. A licensed physical therapist, qualified horse handler and sidewalkers enhance physical, emotional and mental well-being.
Junior Brittani Malec has volunteered at Stirrups and Smiles since the fall of her freshman year. She has enjoyed her three years of involvement with the organization and encourages other students to volunteer. During her first year of volunteering, Malec experienced a moment she said she will never forget.
“This little girl could not hold herself up on the horse and we had to use a short one so that we could hold her, and she also could not speak very well,” Malec said. “We would always sing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ together and my eyes were welling up with tears almost every time we sang that. I just loved her so much; she really touched my heart.”
Malec emphasized the beauty of being part of something bigger than herself and said she wants to pass that gift on to the Harding student body.
“Being with our riders and their families touches my heart week after week,” Malec said. “They are some of the strongest and most encouraging people that I know, and I only see them once a week. I look forward to going out there and try to be out there every time that I can.”
Malec said she is thankful for the volunteers who help run the organization because they are the ones who make the organization possible.
“Most of the work at Stirrups and Smiles is done strictly by volunteers, it truly would not be in existence without volunteers, so obviously it’s having the same effect on other people also,” Malec said. “I believe that God is working in that place and that it will be a humbling and joyful experience for anyone who is interested in kids or horses or both. You don’t even have to have experience. When I started I hardly knew a thing about horses, but they taught me and trained me and I’m still learning every day.”
