>> The following is a presentation of KBTC Profiles.

>> A little bit closer.

Working with horses, it's not just the horse.

It helps you with your mood and it just makes me stronger, you know?

Being on a horse makes me forget that I'm in a wheelchair.

[ Music ] >> So we're at Sundance Circle Hippotherapy.

We're in Sumner, Washington.

The really simple definition of hippotherapy is that it's physical, occupational, or speech therapy utilizing the equine movement.

>> "Hippo" is the Latin term for horse.

Kind of putting it together, it is pretty self-explanatory that we do therapy with horses or on horses.

You know, people always make jokes that we're putting kids on hippos, but obviously, we're not.

>> Physical therapy-wise, we're more focused on the physical movement of the horse.

And what's so special about that is that the horse movement perfectly mirrors the natural human movement in the way that we walk especially.

And so basically we're taking our riders' bodies and their pelvis and putting it on top of the horse's pelvis, and then they get all the movement from the horse's pelvis directly to their pelvis and their body.

It helps to engage different muscles and different postural muscles and also to help relax tight muscles or engage weaker muscles.

So it can vary a lot between the different therapies.

>> So as an occupational therapist, my patients typically look very different from a physical therapist.

We oftentimes get a lot of kids on the autism spectrum.

We get kids with fine motor challenges.

We have a lot of kids with anxiety.

With that, there's a lot that the horses have to offer.

We use the horse in a variety of ways.

Some of our kids really enjoy what we call groundwork.

So we might braid the horse's mane, or sometimes just getting some grooming in helps with reach that might be challenging.

>> Good job.

>> We have eight horses here and we purposely want a variety in our herd so that we can fit them appropriately with the variety of patients that we see.

And generally, the horses are very, very tolerant.

They have their personalities and everybody knows it.

Everybody kind of has their favorites.

So this morning we saw Luna.

She's actually one of our youngest horses.

She's eight years old, and her personality is to work.

She came from a eventing background.

And so she's used to working and she loves people.

And she wants to work for people and be involved in what's going on.

And Boo is also a crowd favorite.

She's one that we kind of call bomb-proof for, like, she is tolerant of everything.

Not that slow, Boo.

Owen likes to love on Boo a lot and drool on Boo sometimes.

And all the big hugs and all the love.

And she is just super, super tolerant to everything.

>> Come on.

>> Push, push, push.

Yeah!

>> We're here at Little Bit, which is a therapeutic riding center in Redmond, Washington.

Here at Little Bit, we have 34 horses that make up our overall herd.

How a horse kind of comes into the program can be really different depending on the horse.

Most of the time, it's a training piece that they come in as their second career.

Those horses tend to have more experience, and so they're more ready for all the different things that we throw at them in that therapy setting.

Pete was a horse that was born on just a farm down the road.

So he came here at a young age and has been trained into the therapy side.

Pete is a mini that actually even comes inside the building.

He is used for only unmounted activities, so no one rides him.

He can help with those smaller clients in kind of building that confidence so they're ready for the bigger horse.

[ Laughter ] >> Pete!

[ Inaudible Speaker ] >> Rosie Pony was at an Amish farm.

And then she came here and has been here for many years.

But she actually now has got a career in dressage with her owner.

>> She is back.

>> She is a very quiet horse.

She is a slow mover.

She is going to stand and be able to walk slowly next to Leo as he is working through his therapy exercises.

So Leo has been here for a long time.

And at this time, he doesn't have the balance and the core strength to be up on the horse safely.

So that's part of our goal, is to get him able to be balanced enough to be up on top of the horse again.

So he is doing unmounted services.

And so what we are working on is building that trunk and core strength and those balance reactions.

>> Perfect.

Wow.

You're super strong today, man.

>> They are always trying to provide you the best that they can here at Little Bit, you know?

It's a great place to be.

The grooming and the brushing, it helps me with my back muscles.

And you know, leading the horse helps me push in my chair and also makes me stronger that way.

Therapy is good.

Mental therapy is good.

Mental health is a good thing to have.

But this is my mental health therapy.

>> Good.

>> It's very peaceful.

It's a special bond that you have with the horse that you work with.

You just kind of become one with the horse.

You know, the horse becomes your friend.

They know how you feel and all that kind of stuff.

The horse knows you very, very well, you know?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

Oftentimes I feel like the horses know what the client needs before I do.

They can read what that client is feeling in their body and adjust their speed.

You know, if a client is having a harder day or kind of more reserved, they might slow down with them.

Or if they have some more energy and, you know, need some extra input, that horse might walk out with them a bit more.

>> That's what I feel is very powerful about that connection.

Our horses are so responsive to our kids.

And you see certain connections forming.

I definitely believe they have a very unique bond and ability to kind of sense each other's feelings and just be calm and content.

>> There it is.

Oh, I love it.

It's beautiful.

[ Laughter ] >> Funding for this edition of KBTC Profiles provided by the KBTC Association.

>> KBTC Profiles are available at kbtc.org.