Therapeutic Program and Annual Show Allow Special Needs Kids to Ride Tall

Delaney Supple has cerebral palsy. It affects her whole body and she can't walk or talk. However, when she enters a horse ring, the 12-year-old is right at home, and she can steer and sometimes ride unassisted on a 1,200-pound horse.

Delaney's been attending Lovelane, a therapeutic horse-riding program in Lincoln, Mass., since she was 2. Her mother, Erica, says the program's benefits have been tremendous.

"It's been great for her strength," Supple said.

She says in the 10 years that Delaney has been riding, she has had two major hip surgeries, forcing her to miss her lessons for six months at a time. Supple says she really noticed a difference in her daughter's strength when she wasn't able to ride. "Each week the benefits are huge if you keep it up," she told AOL News.

Therapeutic riding uses the horse's movement to strengthen the rider's muscles as well as help the rider work on posture, balance, muscle control and muscle tone. A horse's gait also mimics the human gait, so for those students that can't walk independently, horse riding provides the same motion and sensations.

When Delaney was two, Erica Supple says she was searching for any resource to help her daughter and came across therapeutic horse riding. "It sounded like a fun way to do therapy."

And making therapy fun is a big plus for kids and families who are constantly in and out of speech, occupational and physical therapy appointments. During a therapeutic riding lesson the instructors work to integrate the child's therapy goals into the lesson.

"These kids are having all these therapies in a setting that's really fun," said Julie Clifford, a therapeutic riding instructor at Lovelane. "They don't realize how hard they're working."

Students come to Lovelane with a variety of disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, genetic disorders and Down syndrome. Clifford says each of the center's 110 students are working on very different skills with the horses.

"Some kids sit on the horse and walk around the ring, working their core muscles and staying upright. Others work on fine motor skills, clipping clips to the horse's mane, or working on color recognition when we're riding outside," she said.

But besides the physical benefits, the emotional benefits are just as significant. "These kids are doing something no one else in their family can do," said Clifford. "It creates a tremendous sense of confidence."

The kids get to show their families just what they've been learning in the annual student horse show this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, each student ride a horse and demonstrate to the audiences the different skills they've been working on. Each student receives a ribbon at the end of the show.

"It's a way for them to show their stuff," Clifford said. "They look forward to it all year long."

Delaney Supple hasn't missed a show in her 10 years at Lovelane. Her mother says not only is the show a highlight for her daughter, but it's good for the entire family.

"She always sitting on the sidelines at my son's games," she says. "But at the show we're all going to support her and what she does."