A young girl with autism never uttered a word before. After riding a horse as a part of a therapeutic riding class, she began to speak.
It is stories like this that drive John Robinson, founder of Robinson Ranch in Phoenix.
Combining his passions for horses and helping children with disabilities, Robinson began a nonprofit program in 2000 that offers riding therapy courses for students with special needs.
Since the program’s beginning, Robinson said he has seen many major breakthroughs from his students.
“It’s really touching when those things happen and they happen a lot,” Robinson said.
The girl who spoke her first words at Robinson Ranch did so after three years of therapy riding courses, he said.
Robinson Ranch program director Sheilah Smiley said the girl would normally use sign language for a moving horse.
“On this particular day she said, ‘Walk on,’” Smiley said. “Tears were streaming from everybody. Our whole class just stopped. It was amazing, and from that point on she spoke. There’s magic in what we do.”
Robinson recalled other memorable experiences.
“For kids that have a hard time sitting up at home … they’ll come out here, work with us for three or four months, start building up their strength and all the sudden they’re able to hold themselves up,” he said.
The programs assess each child individually to shape a program around the child’s needs, Smiley said. She then creates a program tailored specifically for that child.
For a child with autism, Smiley said she might create a program focusing on strengthening their sensory perception and focus.
“We’re building a sensory trail,” she said. “So I’ll maybe write a program where there are cones that have colors and John will tell them to go to the red cone and turn left.”
For a child with cerebral palsy the program may instead focus on building balance, Smiley said.
The organization also focuses on helping their students build self-confidence.
“We give our children higher levels of self-esteem (and) self-worth,” Smiley said. “Being out here, a horse is not going to judge you. It’s not going to make fun of your disability.”
Twelve-year-old Jayde Robinson, John’s youngest daughter, takes intermediate riding courses and volunteers at the ranch.
“I like (horse) maintenance and (riding) lots of the horses to get them exercised,” she said. “I like doing the classes. It’s lots of fun … We’d like more volunteers to get more help around the ranch.”
John said volunteers must fill out an application and pass certain background requirements as well as attend an orientation class.
Volunteers are responsible for ranch maintenance, exercising the horses and helping out with the children, John said.
The volunteer positions are a good fit for students, Smiley said. The ranch coordinators can work around their schedules.
“Volunteering is one of the most awesome things anyone could do,” Robinson said. “The satisfaction (volunteers) can get is one of the most rewarding things.”
Reach the reporter at kmmandev@asu.edu
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