In addition to riding in the arenas, some Shea Center clients, depending on their riding ability level, ride on a variety of different trails located behind The Shea Center barn. Instructors have the option to take riders on a path from The Center down to the wood...
There’s a new horse in the barn for The Shea Center’s therapeutic riding program! Now what? Before a potential Shea Center therapy horse candidate even sets hoof on the property, a lot of time and effort goes into assessing whether the horse will be a “fit” for our...
Here is a video by PATH Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor and Instructor Manager, Alex, with exercises you can do at home to help maintain muscle memory and strength for adaptive riding. This Heels Down exercise is good for balance and stability while riding. 1....
Did you know there are exercises you can do at home to help maintain muscle memory and strength for adaptive riding? Here’s one that is good practice for posting the trot. We call it ‘Wall Posting’: Stand against a smooth wall with the back of your head, your...
A tremendous thank you to all the client families, volunteers, and friends who voted for The Shea Center in The Capistrano Dispatch's People's Choice Horseshoe Awards! In all we won five awards! Gold - Best Local Nonprofit Organization Gold - Best Camp for Kids Silver...
You need me to work in the barn? Great, I’m here! You need me to sidewalk for someone? Great, I’m here! You need me to help with a mount or a dismount? Great, I’m here! You need me to lead for a session? Great, I’m here! Those were the words of our Shea Center...
by Matt Mitchell, PT, DPT Come to The Shea Center for 30 minutes and you are bound to see someone sitting on a horse backwards, sideways, or even standing on horseback! Have you ever wondered why our clients are not always sitting facing forward in a saddle during...
Max’s mother, Desiree, says “Max loves being outside and has so much fun at The Shea Center! He is learning how to connect with animals.” Seven-year-old Max loves riding “Bliss". The first day, he was apprehensive and clung to his mother. Now, he loves to feed and...
At The Shea Center, some of our clients ride in group lessons on the Therapeutic/Adaptive Riding side of our program. These Shea Center group lessons are taught by specially trained adaptive riding instructors and can have up to a maximum of four riders in the lesson....
by Matt Mitchell, PT, DPT Recent research suggests that a robotic horse simulator may be able to produce similar physical benefits to riding a real horse.1 However; there are aspects of live horses that simply cannot be replicated by a machine. We believe these...