Picture: Green Forest Orphanage's rehabilitation donkey (c) Life2Orphans.org


Yesterday's blog (SDA Rumor and Ukrainian Orphanage Stories) I mentioned the Green Forest Orphanage's rehabilitation donkey. My daughter Natasha lived in this orphanage for several years before I adopted her from Ukraine in 2000. She was 3.5 years in 2000 and they didn't have a donkey at that point.


The donkey is a fairly new addition to the orphanage. I had heard of using horses for therapy. Horseback riding has been used more and more over the last 30 years. But I had never heard of using a donkey in this manner.

And an amazing number of adoptive parents are doing therapeutic horseback riding. I got rave reviews from half a dozen parents that I know over the last week. It helped their children physically and emotionally.

Emotional, Social and Psychological Advantages of Therapeutic Riding

Individuals with emotional, social and psychological disabilities all benefit [from Therapeutic Horseback Riding] in similar ways.

........

Horses also help people feel in control of their situation because there is a direct correlation between action and reaction. To learn how to care for and ride a horse a student must also be able to communicate efficiently with the horse and the instructor. In this way, riding is a very social activity, but not something that is daunting to people who are uncomfortable in social situations. These aspects of the riding experience are very similar to most of animal assisted therapy. However, the experience of riding a horse is very different. Riding helps to empower people and connect on a personal level.

From: Wikipedia - Therapeutic Horseback Riding

One family sent me a interesting URL. The Green Forest Orphanage director isn't the first person to use donkeys for therapy.

In England the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys therapeutic uses

the donkey because of its placid nature.

...........

The children who attend the centres have a wide range of disabilities; some may have learning difficulties, others are physically disabled or have behavioural problems, brain damage or sensory impairment.

From About The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys