Emily's Story

Emily has been riding horses off and on since she was five years old. She joined the therapeutic riding program at EPP for weekly sessions on her favorite horse.

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Diagnosed with autism, anxiety, and OCD, Emily is a very motivated rider and does her best when expectations are clearly outlined. Her favorite activity on horseback is to solve puzzles.

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Emily is very active. In addition to horseback riding, Emily is a wonderful swimmer and also loves to volunteer. Her therapeutic riding goals include to improve her posture and balance, build strength, improve attention for tasks, follow directions, improve muscle coordination, socialize, and improve her horsemanship and general enjoyment. She loves her horse because of his bouncy trot, and will be the first one to request to, “trot, please!” During her last session, Emily successfully rode frontwards and backwards, completing all of her stretches— even at a trot! She also completed an entire lap of the arena balancing an egg on a spoon. Most of all, she was smiling and giggling the entire time.