Adaptive Horse Riding: Assessment

Video Transcript

"My name is Raeshell Sorensen. I'm the Equestrian Manager here at The National Ability Center and what we have going on here is an assessment lesson. Before any rider is admitted into the program they have a onetime lesson where we have the ability to assess their abilities and see how they will react to the horses and we usually have extra assistance on these lessons so that riders are able to feel comfortable and have a good experience for the first time . We also talk to the parents of younger children to figure out what their goals might be or we talk to the riders to really set up programs so that there might be some objectives to choose as we go throughout the riding lesson. Typically with children who have developmental disabilities or cognitive disabilities we like to assess how they will react to the situation, how they might react to the animal as well as assess their learning level or their communication ability so that we can teach them to communicate with them what we are trying to accomplish."