 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Getting a horse to move is one way to learn teamwork
Wednesday, September 08, 1999 By Jack Kelly, Post-Gazette National Affairs Writer
BURTON, Ohio -- The five teen-agers in a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program meet in a horse arena in rural Geauga County for their weekly session. They will be guided chiefly by Stony, a 12-year-old pretzel-loving quarterhorse owned by Linda Myers.
Myers, a psychologist, has worked with troubled youth for 15 years. She is a pioneer in the burgeoning field of equine-assisted psychotherapy, which is a specialized form of therapeutic riding programs used for years to treat the physically handicapped.
"It gets the kids out. It gets the kids moving. It helps them focus," Myers said. Stony teaches team-building and helps young people overcome their fears.
This is the first time that Nathan, Matt, Tim and Lana have been around Stony. Only Sally has worked with him before.
"Even a smallish, friendly horse like Stony is a big animal," Myers said. "He can be intimidating to youngsters." The first exercise requires the young people to work as a team to saddle Stony. They work in groups of three, holding hands.
The person in the middle is the brain; the only one allowed to talk. The kids on left and right are the hands and take instructions from the "brain."
A more difficult exercise involves getting Stony to go over an obstacle. All must work together on this exercise, but they may not lead Stony by a halter, touch him, or bribe him with hay, carrots, pretzels or other foods. And they may not frighten him.
A horse will view any person standing in front of it as an obstacle, and will stop. To get Stony to go over the jump, the teen-agers must form barriers to the sides and drive Stony from the rear.
The catch is, the kids forming the barriers must stand their ground. If a person flinches, the horse will keep on coming. After 20 minutes, the kids were still having trouble. The boys flinched, but not Sally. She'd plant her feet firmly, and hold out her arms. She didn't move. And Stony stopped in front of her.
"Sometimes you can't get horses -- or people -- to do things just by being friends with them," said Sally. And Myers said Sally's success was a breakthrough.
|
||||||||
