Blue Avocado, a nonprofit online magazine for community nonprofits, recently posted a column on things people say when they hear you work for a nonprofit. There’s definitely a host of misconceptions regarding nonprofits and their differences from for profit companies. This confusion is only compounded when you throw in foreign words like “hippotherapy” and attempt to convince someone that horses are absolutely a medical treatment and not simply something you see on a farm. Hippotherapy is one of those things no one understands on the first go round. Every explanation invariably ends with the listener offering a vacant smile or noncommital grunt of feigned comprehension.
So, what do we hear when we try to describe NCEFT?
“Is that physical therapy for horses, like if they’re hurt?”
What’s amazing about this comment is the acceptance of therapy as a tool for animals. It wasn’t too long ago that admitting to using accupuncture on your horse meant widened eyes and sympathy for someone who had quite clearly lost their mind. Now, chiropractors are as common as farriers and vets. In fact, our therapy horses receive regular body work to keep them happy and healthy.
“You do therapy with hippos?”
“Nope, “hippo” is Greek for horse.”
Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician, is often credited with first suggesting horseback riding as more than recreation, but instead a means of exercise. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the term “hippotherapy” was coined to define the horse as an adjunct to physical therapy. Considering this relatively recent timeline, its amazing to note that NCEFT will be celebrating its 41st year of offering equine-facilitated therapy.
“That must be depressing working with kids with disabilities.”
Anyone who’s ever stepped foot on our facility knows how far this is from the truth. Imagine being a child who can’t walk without the help of canes, who has to labor over each step. Now, how would it feel to be given the chance to sit astride a horse and ride without help. To be present during a hippotherapy or an adaptive riding session is to know joy. The only sadness or tears we see are from children unready to leave their ponies, or kids who want to take just one more lap on the ATV.
“Does that actually work?”
While we see countless improvements in objective, measurable areas like speech, balance, and strength, it’s the unmeasurable improvements that are most touching. At its heart, therapy is about improving quality of life. NCEFT offers patients and students the opportunity to spend a little time with beautiful animals in a stunning setting. Consider what Winston Churchill once said, “there’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” When it comes down to it, there’s something about 880 Runnymede Road that’s good for the inside, the outside, and everything inbetween.
So, what’s the best line you’ve heard when explaining hippotherapy or equine-facilitated therapy?
