Adaptive Riding at Haku Baldwin Center
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What is Adaptive Riding?
Adaptive Riding (or Therapeutic Riding) is much more than a casual pony ride. Like other adaptive sports, this program focuses on building skills in a typical lesson environment that’s adapted to meet the needs of each participant.
Adaptive riding promotes numerous physical, cognitive, and social/emotional benefits, including stretching and strengthening underused or underdeveloped muscles, improving posture and coordination, gross and fine motor skills, and increased range of motion. We also incorporate short- and long-term life goals to build confidence, self-esteem, and social skills and meet educational and therapeutic objectives.
Our experienced team includes PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructors, instructors-in-training, and volunteer assistants. PATH Intl. (The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International) is the nation’s leading organization promoting safe and effective equine-assisted services. Haku Baldwin Center meets and exceeds industry standards for safety, ethics, and continuing education. -
Who Can Participate?
The minimum age is four years old.
A formal diagnosis is required. Our instructors are trained to work with youth with a range of disabilities and diagnoses, including (but not limited to):
ADD/ADHD
Anxiety and Depression
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Behavioral Problems
Cerebral Palsy
Chromosomal Anomaly/Deletion
Developmental Delays
Down Syndrome
Hearing, Speech & Vision Impairments
Learning & Speech Disorders
PTSD
Stroke/TBI
Unmounted (non-riding) options are included in the regular lesson curriculum and available to those for whom riding may be inappropriate. See our ‘Equine-Assisted Learning ‘ page for more information.
We accept referrals from physicians, PT/OT/SLPs, mental health professionals, however, HBC does not accept insurance. -
Why Horses?
A horse, being a dynamic living animal, lends itself perfectly to a multi-sensory approach. Grooming, riding, and horsemanship all contain therapeutic virtues. Touch, feel, smell, and movement are essential for learning and growing.
Our gentle program horses provide great motivation and an opportunity to develop the human-animal bond.
Most of all, riding and horsemanship are fun and engaging outdoor activities! We treat our facility like a growing, living outdoor classroom filled with opportunity.
Our horses are carefully chosen and must pass a series of tests before being accepted into the program.
We offer a standard mounting block with steps and a wheelchair ramp for riders using adaptive mobility equipment, and our horses are trained in multiple mount and dismount types.
Our program horses all live on our property, enjoying 33+ acres of pastureland right in beautiful Makawao. They live in herds and are allowed to ‘just be horses’.