The magic of horses: Therapeutic riding team shares experiences teaching children with disabilities

Aug. 4—Anthony Busacca and Keith O'Connor know a thing or two about how horses can help children with disabilities.

For 12 years, they have worked together at the Inspiration Ranch in Magnolia, Texas, helping children who struggle with health issues such as anxiety, cerebral palsy and autism.

Busacca is the education coordinator and a therapeutic riding instructor at the ranch. O'Connor is a retired speech pathologist and a diagnostic team member.

"That's the beauty of horseback riding," Busacca said. "It's a multi-, total body system exercise, so every second you spend on the horse's back, that is physical, cognitive and also emotional ... there's no other machine or approach that produces the same physical benefit."

Both were in Stillwater for the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International Conference — a three-day regional conference co-hosted by the Turning Point Ranch and the Lone Star Therapeutic Equestrian Network.

More than 130 guests and volunteers attended the conference at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oklahoma State University, the Totusek Arena at OSU and Turning Point Ranch, which included lectures by leading industry professionals, hands-on workshops, networking with colleagues and the latest developments in the field.

The conference promoted and supported interest in equine-related services for individuals with cognitive, physical, mental and emotional differences.

The sessions started Friday and ended on Sunday. An awards ceremony was held at Turning Point Ranch on Friday, where outstanding participants, equines, instructors and volunteers were recognized for their contributions to the industry.

Busacca and O'Connor share a passion for helping riders of all ages and development levels achieve their goals through therapeutic riding.

"We don't turn any child away," O'Connor said. "We just look at what their needs are and how we can facilitate improving those."

Busacca has been a master-level therapeutic riding instructor for more than 30 years. He has traveled extensively, visiting places like Korea, Israel, Japan and Canada to certify therapeutic riding instructors.

But his passion for helping disabled riders shone through, even bringing him to tears as he talked about some riders paralyzed by a car accident.

"When they come for their riding lessons, it's the only time they get to look down at somebody instead of looking up," Busacca said.

His workshop, which focused on skill progression for riding lessons, gave instructors short- and long-term strategies to teach their students.

"There's so many things to include in a therapeutic riding lesson," Busacca said. "(Not only) safety, but also ... skill progression. ... How do we get our riders to be more in control of the horse ... without losing the safety component."

Busacca admitted that not all riders will progress enough to ride a horse independently — most need two "side walkers," or volunteers who stand on either side of the horse when the rider is in a lesson.

O'Connor has been a speech pathologist for 22 years.

"I'm looking more at ... increasing communication skills for those children that have maybe no verbal speech," O'Connor said. "(I want) to facilitate some increase in how they communicate in order to reduce their behaviors, because anyone that can't effectively communicate is going to be frustrated."

O'Connor said that therapeutic riding allows riders to be more aware of their own body and the control that they can have. Research has shown that therapeutic riding has helped children at any point on the autism spectrum.

Progress is measured in the smallest increments. And the connections made with the horse — or any other therapy animal — is nonverbal communication, a "segue," to borrow a phrase coined by Busacca.

"The movement of the horse calms their neurological system," O'Connor said. "The horse is beneficial to me as a tool."

Busacca noted that when he started giving therapeutic riding lessons, approximately 60-70% of children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, brain injuries from car accidents and other motor skill deficiencies, and 20-30% were diagnosed with autism.

Now, those statistics have flipped.

"There's different theories," Busacca said. "Is there an actual increase in the number of people with autism or is it better diagnoses?"

O'Connor said that one in four boys are diagnosed with autism today, and one in every 59 individuals has autism.

"And that number keeps increasing," he said. "If you truly see a child that's on the spectrum, they're going to need some type of intervention or social skill intervention sometime in their lives. Without that, I see those kids flounder."

Together, they are contributing to support the rise in autism diagnoses, combining their skills as a riding instructor and therapist to improve daily living skills and social interaction for their riders.

They focus on a "rider first" mentality. It's not a "Down Syndrome rider," but a rider with Down Syndrome.

"We address the child on the horse as though they are in full capacity despite whatever their cognitive level might be," O'Connor said. "It may be the only time in their lives that they can feel that their somehow equal."

O'Connor said parents can find many resources online, but he encouraged them to try equine therapy. And for those looking for volunteer options, therapeutic riding is a great place to get involved.

"That's an ever-present question," he said. "How do we get volunteers?"

The volunteer coordinator at Inspiration Ranch reaches out to churches, corporations and even schools to garner volunteers.

"I think one of the most untapped (sources) are those high school kids that need community service hours as part of their graduation programs and for future resumes," O'Connor said. "They make the most wonderful volunteers because most of them have not been exposed to kids with disabilities. It can be life changing."