Meet Nadia, our Featured Equestrian of the Week!

Nadia’s Story

You do your best when you find out your child has special needs...when you hear the doctor tell you your daughter has Cerebral Palsy, your heart just sinks.

We were told horseback riding was a good therapy and quickly decided we had to try it. Our first experience was one we would never forget. The first time I tried to get Nadia on a horse, she screamed and yelled, and was not even willing to get on a saddle that sat on a barrel. I wanted to do my best to comfort her and somehow get her on the horse.

RTES called us for the summer session 2009, and I was afraid...what if she would not get on the horse? We arrived at the stables, and all was well. Nadia was just quiet. She did not make a fuss, and she knew she was going on a horse. We were greeted by the staff, all smiling at Nadia, and she smiled back and I started to feel less tension in her grip. Nadia got on the horse, she rode with no problems and never looked back.

Therapeutic horseback riding has helped her build her confidence and every week we go to her lesson, she is happy with the therapy, mostly because she sees how much it has helped her.

What has the therapy done for her? So many things: confidence, straitening her back, improving her posture, increasing her strength and flexibility and helping her to learn to walk more upright and improving her balance. Nadia takes great pride in herself when she says she is riding a horse.

Nadia has improved so much while riding at RTES, and for us, her parents, it is so nice to see. When Nadia started riding, she had to use a walker to get to and from the horse, she is now walking on her own and able to stand without holding onto something!

The staff and volunteers at RTES, are also unforgettable. They help Nadia feel so secure, and they smile at her, and play with her. She loves trotting, and standing in two point on the horse, and even competing in shows. She is really proud of herself.

~ Nadia’s Parents