Who Benefits from Hippotherapy?

Individuals of all ages, with a wide range of physical, cognitive and/or emotional disabilities and conditions that can be served include:

• Amputations
• Autism
• Brain Injuries
• Cerebral Palsy
• Cardiovascular
• Accident/Stroke
• Down Syndrome
• Emotional Disabilities
• Mental Retardation

• Hearing Impairments
• Learning Disabilities
• Spina Bifida
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Post Polio
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Blind/Vision Impaired

Riding, along with the loving interactions among horse, student and volunteer, fosters self-confidence, trust and pride as a result of mastering new skills. For many students, the success achieved from EAT serves as a bridge to accomplishment in other areas of their daily living.

How do I Enroll my Child?

The first step to enrolling with Ride On St. Louis is to schedule an observational evaluation. One or two evaluation days may be scheduled per year and fill up quickly. The Evaluation fee is $25 to reserve your time. During the evaluation, our professional staff, after finding no contraindications to NARHA guidelines, will place you on one of three waiting lists: Hippotherapy, Therapeutic Riding, or Sports Riding. Once placed in our program, riders are asked to pay an enrollment fee of $75 per visit, approximately 20% of the cost of therapeutic horseback riding. ROSL relies on private donations, grants from foundations/trust, and corporate sponsorships to satisfy additional funding requirements. Ridership assistance is available to those who are not able to pay the full enrollment fee. When applying for the Ridership, parents can request to pay as little as $33 per hour, however anyone requesting more than 50% assistance will be required to commit to 5 hours of volunteer service during the session. Please review the application listed with the participation forms for details about the Ridership program. To reserve an observational evaluation, call the office for appointment information. Please be aware that these evaluation days fill faster than we have openings available. We encourage and welcome anyone to visit our program during operating hours. We have areas for viewing and the staff is happy to answer any of your questions.

Welcome Letter (PDF)

Rider's Registration Form (PDF)

Parent Handbook (PDF)

Are there Risks Involved?

Our primary concern is to provide a safe, productive experience for all riders. Included in this is the wish to "do no harm". Recognizing that horse-related activities do hold inherent risks, we need to assess rider participation with a "Risk/Benefit" analysis. The essential question for all riders is, "Will the benefit of the therapeutic riding activity outweigh the risk?" This question must be answered with consensus by the entire therapeutic riding team--- rider, parent/guardian, riding instructor, therapist(s), educator, and your physician.

The following conditions are considered contraindicative to participation in therapeutic riding:

• Spinal Instability
• Osteogenesis Imperfecta
• Osteoporosis
• Indwelling Catheters
• Coxa Arthrosis
• Hemophilia
• Atlantoaxial Instability