Conference Day 1

Holly and Sarah at the Hartford airport.

Karen reporting from Denver...

I've always loved to travel.  Not tour, necessarily (museums, not really my thing, tourist attractions like Disney World, even less so), but to travel.  Go somewhere different, see a new city, drink coffee and people watch, gain an understanding of a new people, culture, or place.

Of course, for much of my life, this love of going places has been in pretty much direct conflict with my other love - horses.  There's almost nothing that can tie you down faster than a 1,000+ pound animal with daily care needs that approximate that of your average toddler. 

So, when I made the decision to enter the therapeutic riding field, I believed it would probably be at the cost of the travel and freedom I so enjoy.

Luckily, life is almost never what you expect it will be.  Since completing NARHA certification, I seem to find more and more opportunities to go places and also great role models who balance love and commitment to horses with a desire to travel to other places and centers.  Not to mention the happy fact that High Hopes is a multi-cultural place with regular visitors from all over the world.

I'm extremely grateful to the management at High Hopes for sending us to Denver for the NARHA National Conference (not only because Denver is a fun, funky, clean city with mountains in the background and a southwestern flair).  Today, I met therapeutic riding instructors from Washington, Mississippi, Colorado.  I heard about their students, their horses, and the challenges they face in the field everyday.  (It does bring home how blessed we are at High Hopes in so many ways, and as a relative newcomer, it emphasizes for me the gratitude I owe to those who have built the program into what it is today.) 

I also attended three presentations.  One about horse care and maintenance; one about natural horsemanship; and a third about the benefits of therapeutic riding for children on the autism spectrum.  They were all interesting, but it was this last one that made the deepest impression on me.  Several researchers from Texas Tech, among them today's presenters Tangi Arant and Heather Hernandez, did a small scale study to try to measure the affects of horseback riding on young children (age 2 - 8) with an autism diagnosis.  Their study was conducted using strong research methods, and the teaching methods they used to work with the children were many of the same teaching strategies and activities that we use at High Hopes everyday.  It was extremely validating to see that their study revealed measurable benefits to the children (an increase in eye contact, vocalization, and positive social behaviors and a decrease in behaviors such as stimming).  Their research generated dozens of questions and theories from the audience - evidence to me that the therapeutic riding field is ready and eager for this kind of research and discovery.

After the conference, we spent time wandering downtown Denver (checking out everything from kitchy Colorado tourist shops to high-end engagement rings) and chatting... lots and lots of chatting. 

Thanks for reading and I will try to update again tomorrow.  Internet access at the hotel isn't what I hoped, but I will do my best!

-Karen Pfeil