What a horse can do, without even talking.

Recently we had a student rider at the farm. This rider is with the DCF program with the State of Connecticut. During the day at school, something happened and he was extremely troubled. Distraught. So much so that while sitting in a class he took an old wooden ruler that had a metal strip on it and pulled the strip off. Once that was accomplished, he proceeded to unscrew a light bulb and put the metal strip into the socket of the light while holding it. What was the intention? We don't know, but obviously it was not good. After school, the State van brings him to the farm for his semi-private lesson. He rides one of our bigger horses that has lots of bounce. Once he arrives he immediately heads to the barn to help groom and tack his horse. He then comes into the arena smiling, leading his horse. The smile is slowly starting to appear on his face. His body has released a good deal of the tensions of the day. We soon mount and proceed with our hour-long class - which includes trotting off lead for this young man, steering independently and then ending with a trail ride on our sensory trail. At the end of the class, all of the stress and tension of the day has melted away and we find a wonderful young man beaming broadly from atop his healthy steed. Horses are just great big teddy bears that have the power to heal in so, so many ways. As an instructor at the farm, I too receive therapy back just from watching and helping all these wonderful children. It is magic.