Karsen Sims

Peer Mentor for freshman members!

Today I volunteered again at Horses for Healing. We did the same sort of exercises, just with different children. However, today was much busier. I sidewalked the whole time and did not spend any time in the class room. Again, these activities were very beneficial for both the children and I. In fact, one boy I sidewalked with was very tight muscled, and I could feel that with my arm. However, by the end of the therapy session he was calm and relaxed.

Today I attended a morning full of sessions at Horses for Healing. I arrived at 8:00 am and helped round up, groom, and get the horses ready for their sessions. The first lessons began at 9:15, I served as a sidewalker. This was my first time doing this for real, and I loved it. It was very rewarding to work with the children hands on like that. I continued to alternate between side walking and helping out in the classroom until 1:00 pm. Today was a great day and it really helped me get a better understanding of how actual therapy sessions go.

We went to Horses For Healing and watched a young autistic boy go through therapy. It was amazing to see an actual therapy session go on. I was very impressed!

Panelli Horsenality

As a class we visited Cody's Hoofin' It program at her family farm. I thought that this was a great way to use equine therapy. She is partnered with the Sunshine School and works with kids that have certain disabilities. We worked through several obstacle courses that the children would do, it was great!

As a class, we visited Kim Copps Corral Coaching facility. The class had a great time, we learned a lot about how equine therapy can really help people with mental issues (such as PTSD) and for groups of people (such as families)

I went to Corral Coaching on a Saturday and worked with Kim Copps for the afternoon. We did a lot of mindfulness exercises. I enjoyed it very much and plan on going back.