Horses spur therapy in Dixmont Equine program working wonders for disabled children

DIXMONT – Eric Bennett is a chatty little boy who will turn 4 on the Fourth of July. Walking into a horse arena on a rainy afternoon last week, Eric shrugged off his jacket and asked his dad, “Is this horse therapy?”

That single question illustrates the success of hippotherapy – the use of the movement of a horse as a tool for physical, occupational and speech therapists at Horse Gait Stables in Dixmont.

“He didn’t talk when he came here,” Eric’s father, Adam Bennett of Corinna, said. “We’ve seen incredible progress.”

So has Tami Labul of Dover-Foxcroft, the mother of Max Labul, also 4, who has been diagnosed with autism and developmental delays.

“When he first started on the horses, he did a lot of leaning. Now his posture is a lot better and he is even able to throw a ball,” she said.

Horse Gait, which opened in January, features a heated, indoor arena, a six-stall stable and treatment rooms, in conjunction with a full holistic therapy approach that includes gardens for horticulture therapy.

Other facilities in Maine offer horse therapy, said Carol Lane, the physical therapist who runs the business, but none provide hippotherapy. Hippotherapists must be certified physical or occupational therapists, she said. The treatment is covered by most health insurance companies and by Medicaid.

The business came from a dream for Lane and a necessity for Norman and Peggy Clarke of Pittsfield. The Clarkes’ son, Darren, was severely injured in 1996 when he came in contact with a high-tension wire while working at a construction site in Florida.

Now 29, Darren requires full-time care and daily physical therapy. His parents are his 24-hour-a-day caretakers. Lane is his physical therapist, and last summer she began working with Darren on a horse in her back yard.

“Darren’s muscles are very tight,” his mother explained. “When he is on the horse, you can watch him visibly relax from the movement and the heat of the horse. He actually forgets he is doing therapy.”

Darren has no short-term memory, Peggy Clarke said, so he does not recognize where he is when he arrives at Horse Gait. “But once he is here and on the horse, he loves it,” she said.

Impressed by the level of improvement in their son, the Clarkes decided to build the arena and lease it to Horse Gait and Exuberant Living, Lane’s physical therapy business.

“The horse’s gait simulates how people walk,” Norman Clarke said.

Lane said hippotherapy helps with balance, sensory processing, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and a variety of developmental delays. Each child’s treatment session is tailored to the individual, and hippotherapy is often used in conjunction with other activities and treatments.

Horse Gait has therapy contracts with Piscataquis, Penobscot and Waldo counties and serves referred patients from Somerset County.

“We are a very unique facility,” said Lane. “Hippotherapy is just one treatment tool that we use.”

The horses used include two quarter horses and a Haflinger. “These are older horses that have mellowed out,” Lane said. “They do well with screaming kids and balls being thrown about.”

One volunteer leads the horse around the arena while Lane or another therapist walks on one side and a second volunteer walks along on the other. While riding, the children play a variety of games including ring toss, basketball and fishing.

Sometimes the children ride sideways or backward to work various muscles. “The riding loosens up tight joints, promotes good posture, balance and motor control,” Lane said.

Soon, she said, Horse Gait will be adding more horses and expanding into adult therapy, particularly for victims of stroke or other brain injuries. A horticulture therapy program also was added recently.

Chris Hubbard is an occupational therapist at Horse Gait who has seen the changes take place in the stable’s clients.

“You watch as their entire tension changes,” she said. “They begin to focus their attention. They make more eye contact, and their activities become more goal-oriented. Over time, we see improvement in fine motor coordination and balance.”

Hubbard said that what touches her most is the confidence she sees growing in the young riders, something that Norman Clarke has seen, too.

“We’ve seen such improvements,” Clarke said. “We have kids who wouldn’t talk or even touch. Now they get right on the horse and tell it to walk.”

Horse Gait Stables is located on North Road in Dixmont. Lane can be reached at 257-3178.