Therapeutic Riding

Riders should dress appropriately for the weather, as we do not have heat or A/C in the arenas. Riders should wear long pants and closed toe shoes or boots with heels. We supply riding helmets, which must be worn at all times around the horses. Riders are welcome to purchase their own helmet and bring it with them each week for lessons. If you decide to purchase a helmet, please note that we require all riders use a helmet that meets ASEI safety standards. Jewelry and hair ornaments can catch on the horse’s mane and tail and should not be worn to lessons. A simple tie back is fine to keep hair away from the rider’s face.

Yes, a helmet is required. This can be an issue for some people, but usually the motivation to ride is strong enough and quickly they are able to wear a helmet. If the helmet is an ongoing struggle for a rider, we will lend the rider a helmet to practice wearing at home to get used to it.

Once you have been scheduled in our program we will provide you with forms that need to be filled out via Docusign and email. We very much appreciate having forms submitted in a timely manner. Please note that we cannot begin riding until we have a medical form signed by a doctor.

We think that just about anyone will benefit from our therapeutic horsemanship program. GallopNYC works with children, teens youth and adults who face developmental, emotional, social and physical challenges. Our riders have a wide range of disabilities including developmental and learning disabilities; autism spectrum disorder; cerebral palsy, MS, trauma and PTSD and speech and language delays. Riders in our Therapeutic Riding program can start as young as four.

GallopNYC knows from experience that therapeutic riding is a uniquely effective and engaging form of therapy for people dealing with various disabilities and growing research is providing evidence to back this up, with two clear themes emerging:

• The combination of effective physical and cognitive tasking in a motivating context enables people with disabilities to more rapidly attain needed skills.

• A bonding relationship with a horse opens individuals to better acceptance of counseling, therapy or training.

Therapeutic riding provides concrete benefits, as demonstrated in a recent study that found that “a 10-week therapeutic horseback riding intervention with children diagnosed with [Autism Spectrum Disorders] can result in significant improvement,” specifically in measures of “self-regulation, adaptive expressive language skills, motor skills, and verbal praxis/motor planning skills” (R.L. Gabriels, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders).

These research results are consistent with anecdotal reports from parents and teachers, who report gains in attention span and communication skills that carry over to the home and the classroom.

Yes, a lot of research has gone into the benefits of therapeutic riding and hippotherapy for those with disabilities. View the American Hippotherapy Association’s list of peer reviewed journals here or see our list of selected research articles here.

Therapeutic riding lessons teach an individual to ride, which typically offers many therapeutic benefits. Lessons are conducted by a PATH International certified therapeutic riding instructor. Lessons are typically in a group format with up to three riders. Note that a lesson may consist of the teaching of equine skills, such as care of the horse and equipment, how to lead, and proper vocabulary, in addition to or instead of riding.

Hippotherapy sessions are offered by a physical therapist trained in Hippotherapy, a method that uses the horse as a physical therapy tool, with less emphasis on learning to ride. Riders work one on one with a therapist, though often there will be other riders in the arena at the same time.

Therapeutic riding lessons are taught by a riding instructor certified by PATH Intl., who is supported by a dedicated and experienced group of volunteers. Because GallopNYC is an equine teaching center, trainee instructors may co-teach lessons under the supervision of a certified instructor. Our hippotherapy sessions are offered by an independent physical therapist trained in Hippotherapy, working with GallopNYC. GallopNYC’s program offers a safe and supportive environment in which an individual can reap many benefits.

Therapeutic riding is generally offered for riders starting at age 4, but we do occasionally allow exceptions.

Hippotherapy riders can be as young as 18 months. We also work with youth, adults and seniors.

The program is primarily for riders with disabilities, but we do offer lessons to people who do not have a diagnosis. Often, we have siblings of riders with disabilities in our program.

We also offer general riding lessons and recreational riding at GallopNYC Sunrise Stables in Lindenwood.

We reserve the right to determine if a person will ride with GallopNYC. We work with people at all functional levels and with a wide range of disabilities. However, there are some conditions we may not be able to accommodate. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are the conditions that we have addressed in the past.

For example:

• Weight: The horses we use have weight limits, and we may not be able to offer mounted lessons to a rider with weight in excess of 200 pounds. (However, ground work–grooming and leading a horse–may be available and beneficial.)

• Uncontrolled Seizure: If a person is experiencing regular, uncontrolled seizures, they may not be able to ride.

• Abusive behavior: Many people who struggle to control their behavior, find that they are able to control abusive behaviors while riding, but continued abusive behavior is not tolerated as it creates an unsafe situation.

• Shunts: Helmets are mandatory and people with shunts may not be able to wear helmets.

• Physical conditions: A person must be able to hold their body up while sitting on the horse. Some spinal conditions may not be suitable for riding.

GallopNYC does work with school and agency groups on a limited schedule. When lessons are available, school children ride with GallopNYC on weekdays from 10:30 am-12:30 pm at one of our four locations. The total length of time for a school group session depends on the number of students attending in the group.

Goals are set for each rider for every sessions and we track lessons and rider progress every week.

For the health and safety of everyone in our community GallopNYC strictly limits the amount of personnel on site and conducts routine health screenings for each person before granting access to the site.

• Visits by appointment only. As a measure to maintain the health and safety of our community, GallopNYC is only accepting visitors by appointment. To schedule a lesson and/or visit please call (646)- 233-4507.

• Only confirmed visitors allowed. Please adhere to the agreed upon number of guests in your party and do not exceed the number of visitors approved for your appointment.

• Every person is asked to check-in immediately upon arrival. Please observe GallopNYC’s check-in protocol:

  • Share your name and an appropriate contact.

  • Share information regarding COVID-19 symptoms and any possible recent exposure to COVID-19

  • Get your temperature taken

  • Proceed to your assigned waiting area

Practice Social Distancing. Stay 6ft from other people.

• At this time visitors are not permitted in enclosed spaces. Only employees are allowed in enclosed spaces, including the barn, the tack room and office. Thank you.

Everyone on site is required to wear a face covering over your nose and mouth.

• Face coverings are required. If you do not comply with this rule, you will be asked to leave the property.

• Face coverings will be provided at no cost, if needed, to any confirmed visitor. The Site Manager will make them available.

Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds.

• Please wash your hands after using a shared piece of equipment or tool.

• Please wash your hands after coming in contact with shared surfaces.