Research
Preflection
I have organized to shadow a volunteer at the children's TherAplay in Carmel. I have to give her some paperwork I filled out first saying that I wont be able to take pictures of the kids. I asked and she said that I can take pictures of the horses. I think she will give me a tour of the facility because after my research I learned that the rest of the facility and activities are just as important to each child as the hippotherapy itself.
I don't think I will be able to speak too much with the other employees since most of them are various therapists who will be busy with clients. However the volunteers have a little more free time and I think I will be able to talk to them about there experiences there. The particular volunteer I am shadowing is one of the helpers who stands next to and assists the children while they are riding. She also grooms the horses sometimes, so it might get a little messy and I will want to wear some older shoes.
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They do a lot of fundraising events, but from what I have heard is there are none planned the day I am planning to go. Hopefully I will get a better understanding of everything they do through this experience.
Summary
On February 9th, 2024 I shadowed a volunteer at the
Children's TherAplay in Carmel. I arrived during the
early morning sessions at 9:00 AM so it wasn't to
busy, which meant I got to meet the Volunteer
Manager. She gave me a tour of the space including
the therapists offices, each of the specialized rooms
for physical therapy, and the barn where the horses
were kept. After that I went with the volunteer I had
arranged to shadow. She showed me the volunteer
check in room where people could change their shoes,
grab their nametags and eat a snack. Walking into the
arena there were at most three children riding at a time,
and they each rode for half hour sessions. It was the job
of the volunteers to stand beside the kids while they
were riding and assist them during various activities.
The volunteers also help out by grooming some of the horses and contribute to the various fundraising events throughout the year. I sat by the mounting block and just watched the first session before going into the back to meet all of the horses and some of the other volunteers. Then I walked around with some of the kiddos while they were riding and doing various activities to improve coordination. During the gaps between sessions I watched as one of the horses was getting trained and desensitized to unexpected movements with a ball and some soft bowling pins. The day went quite smoothly, and everyone there was extremely friendly. I could tell just by walking in the door what a warm and welcoming environment each person there contributed to.
Fun facts I learned While I was there
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They call the kids there kiddo's.
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All of the ponies and horses had previous jobs and will retire after they are too old for TherAplay.
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They also have two miniature horses for the kiddo's to interact with and groom to develop fine motor skills.
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The Kiddo's all have code names so that their information is protected under HIPAA.
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Each horse is better for different needs, so kiddo's get matched up based on their individual sensory needs.
Reflection
Thanks to all of my preparations and research I pretty much knew exactly what to expect and my prelection was not too far off. It was a nice surprise to meet the head of the volunteers though and she told me some interesting stuff like how the therapists also work with insurance companies to try and make the TherAplay services as affordable as possible.
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Each of the horses had some background information posted on their stalls that I found really interesting. Dealing with animals and children everyday can easily get chaotic, but they are super organized and proficient in the way they do things. Doing the research on Hippotherapy really helped me understand what they do at TherAplay, but I also feel like it made it a bit harder to come up with questions to ask. I had fun helping out and the tour was great but I do wish I could have done more then just listen and nod during the tour.
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