Seaside Therapeutic Riding anyone?

By Mike Johnson

You probably don’t associate Brooklyn with horseback riding, and you probably don’t associate horseback riding with therapy, but Seaside Therapeutic Riding is combining the two elements and flourishing at its 300-acre indoor/outdoor facility at the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy. Sir Winston Churchill once said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man/woman” (I learned that from the website), and Seaside bases their program on that idea. People of all ages can come to the facility with physical, emotional, or psychological disabilities and reap real benefits from riding.

The professionals at the Academy are offered support by professionals in the medical field to help cater a program best suited to the rider, and Seaside’s website enumerates dozens of potential gains such as improved balance and coordination, enhanced sensory integration, increased self confidence and discipline, and enhanced social skills and trust levels through special effects of the human animal bond. You’d never think of it yourself, but it makes sense that for a child with social phobias or trust issues, the bond he or she can form with the horse could be a productive step towards forming secure bonds with other children. You have to trust a horse a little differently that you have to trust a cat. Although cats scare the crap out of me and I think I prefer “I trust you not to throw me off your back” to the “I trust you not to claw my eyes out while I’m sleeping” that I’d have to give to my cousins’ cat midnight.

Trendy therapies are all over the place but Seaside is unique in taking advantage of live animals and sport instead of magic potions and wacky theories created strictly to sell books. You can learn more about the year round program at www.seasideriding.com.