Adaptive Horse Riding: Physical Limitations

Video Transcript

"My name is Raeshell Sorensen. I'm the Equestrian Program Manager, here at the National Ability Center. I want to talk a little bit about the people who can, and may not be able to ride with us. We do have a couple of limitations, because we are working with live animals, so we do have a weight limit. Generally, it is two hundred pounds, but depending on the height or the disability of the rider, it could go down from there. We generally don't have people with quadriplegia ride, but that doesn't mean they can’t. It depends on the level of paralysis, as well as their athleticism, and ability to hold up their upper body. Our side walkers are trained to support upper body to a certain extent, but a large adult who can't support their upper body, would make for a safety concern, in a riding lesson. Our side walkers and our instructors also have to be able to pull somebody off in an emergency, so we will make certain limitations to riders, if they might be too heavy to be able to take off safely, in order to keep the rider, the side walkers, instructor, and the horses, as safe as possible."