From a Mom's Perspective - Ryker's Story
"A light shone in my son’s eyes that I have never seen before. It was the first time my son Ryker ever grabbed my hand, held it, and walked besides me. He wanted to show me something he wanted to see. That something was Zip the Pony."
"A light shone in my son’s eyes that I have never seen before. It was the first time my son Ryker ever grabbed my hand, held it, and walked besides me. He wanted to show me something he wanted to see. That something was Zip the Pony."
Your Year End Gift will allow others like Ryker to benefit from Fair Hill's Equine Assisted Services Programs
"My 3-year-old son Ryker has had many obstacles in his life. His biggest being that he is non-verbal and sensory seeking. He lacks body core strength and seeks hard input and pressure to regulate himself. At 20 ear infections in the last two years of his life and a slew of doctors, we still only have guesses as diagnoses.
He loves going to the barn and he loves seeing all his new friends, especially Zip. From rushing through the barn on the first day because new environments are overwhelming, he now walks up to Zip and will greet her. He will wave and hug her. His favorite thing to do is walk Zip. He walks pace with Zip, never running or pulling on her. For a child with sensory seeking tendencies, this is incredible. He has become comfortable with all the volunteers and actively seeks them out for help or to do something, not myself. As Ryker’s link to communication in many situations, my heart just melts at these sights. Ryker’s communication increases greatly at the barn. Words he has started using is ‘go’ and ‘no’. He signs yes, no, want, and horse, which is a difficult sign to complete. We have programmed his AAC program with pictures of Zip, the activities they do, and common horse vocabulary. He finds these pictures at home, and we talk and look at Zip. The biggest advancement I can see with Ryker is his safety awareness. Being a child with conductive hearing loss because of his frequent ear infections, he does not hear when dangerous situations can happen. At the barn, he has learned safety around horses and keeps his distance to watch, walks well behind Zip when grooming, and stands to the side if another horse needs to pass.
Having a child with needs can be overwhelming, judgmental, and defeating. At Fair Hill Therapeutic Riding Center, Ryker and I can both breathe. We found a place he can work on his needs in a calming space. The support and care we have received from Bonnie, licensed occupational therapist, and the volunteers is immeasurable.
Our little boy very much needs this opportunity to grow and learn without judgement or stress with an adorable pony that doesn’t care what he can or can’t say or do, as long as they still get to be friends."
Your gift will be used to support the programs at Fair Hill Therapeutic Riding Center so others like Ryker, can benefit.
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Visit our website to learn more about what we do. https://fairhill.farm/