Central Kentucky Riding for Hope
Equine Facilitated Learning

The purpose of this program is to provide challenging and motivating equine-assisted activities to children with physical, cognitive, or emotional/behavioral disabilities.  Equine-assisted learning activities are planned in a safe, authentic learning environment, consisting of our facility here at Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (CKRH) and at other various facilities in the local equine community.  The Kentucky Program of Studies, Core Content, and Academic Expectations will be used in developing lesson goals and objectives.  This program was designed for students who have had minimal experience with equines.
            Each equine-assisted lesson will be designed to address multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile-kinesthetic) and will incorporate aspects of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences* (http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html).  Learner goals and objectives will be planned according to the individual student’s strengths and needs.  After finding out more about how each child learns, lessons can be differentiated or tailored to suit each child’s needs and learning style.  We will teach to the child’s strengths while at the same time working to address the weaknesses. 

Equine-assisted activities will provide opportunities for students to develop and enhance the following skills and abilities:

Skill or ability area…	Will be developed or enhanced through…
Sensory Integration	Tactile activities such as grooming the horse, tacking the horse, learning about textures of feed, etc.
Motor Planning and Body Awareness	Stable management lessons and activities involving how to move around the horse, pick up horse’s feet, tack horse, lead horse, etc.
Listening Skills	Lecture component of lesson will provide introduction to the skill being taught; during guided practice component, students will be listening to follow simple and multi-step directions.
Communication Skills	Discussion component of lesson will provide opportunities for interaction among students and instructor.  Stable management component of lesson will focus on how horses communicate with each other, and how horses and humans can successfully communicate.
Problem-Solving Skills	Students will learn aspects related to training animals, understanding horse psychology, health and mgt. issues, etc.
Written and Expressive Communication Skills	Each lesson will contain a writing/reflection portion.  Students will reflect on the day’s activities and write, draw, or represent their response through visual art.  Students will have the opportunity to share and comment on responses of the group.  Students will create thank-you correspondence for professionals in the equine community who offer field trip opportunities.

 

The learning unit will also include the following components:

Field trip component:  Where applicable, students will travel to other equine facilities in the community to see applications of what they have learned at CKRH.  For example, in the Nutrition lesson, the group would travel to McCauley’s in Versailles to see how feed is made, packaged, ordered, shipped, etc.  After the Breeds and Types lesson, the group would travel to the Parade of Breeds Exposition in the Horse Park.  As part of the Getting Ready for Work lesson, we could travel to a variety of places:  Training Center, Mounted Police Training Stables, Gala Driving Center or Carriage Barn, etc. 

Reading component:   Horse books…CKRH will provide a bibliography of horse-related literature.  Students may wish to read books and prepare a response in their journal, or deliver a presentation to the rest of the group.  Students will make connections between horse stories and their learning throughout the program.

Socialization and Fun!  Learning at CKRH is motivating and fun!  Our horses have a lot to teach us, and they truly love working with young people. 

Enrichment Component:  Culminating Project
During the course of the program, each student will choose a topic of interest related to horses, or the student may choose to research answers to any of their horse-related questions that may come up along the way.  Students will compile research information during class sessions, during field trips, or during their free time at home.  Students will showcase their learning on their topic in a creative presentation of their choice and share with the group at the end of the session. Students may present findings in any format they wish—a song, a poem, a game, a Power Point Presentation, etc.  Be creative!