Ice cream rein grasp

Its rewarding to see some of my kids grasping the reins with "ice cream cone" hands. They seem to get this concept.

Other successes today: A child who 6 months ago was so gravitationally insecure he wouldn't reach to touch the mane, today did squat to stand 7 times. He was able to stand up to reach for a ball, then squat to toss it into the basket.

Another boy learned to remove the neck strap from the horse and hang it up on a hook with only verbal cues. What amazes me is that he can do this without looking at what he is doing. He also closed the fasteners on a puzzle that has fasteners attached to the pieces. He did the snap, buckle and button and needed a little help to connect the zipper. I think that starting the zipper will be the most challenging. I have some objectives that don't really seem appropriate for the hippotherapy setting. But the insurance companies like these functional goals.

Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
Horseot.com