Lessons In TR

Hello friends, I hope you’ve been having a good new year so far! I’ve set myself up with a new routine which is working really well and I have more time to write and blog, so I hope to be posting more soon! Until then, here are some things I’ve been wanting to share for a while that I think you might find interesting, related to adaptive and therapeutic horseback riding. Enjoy!

A Few Links

~ Have you seen the blog The Equine Impact? It’s another blog about equine assisted therapies that I just discovered but has been around since late 2018. It’s a good one! Yay for more EAAT bloggers!

~ Spend some time browsing Horse & Therapy Connections’ Facebook videos for activity ideas!

~ If you’re looking for something EAAT to listen to in the car, while doing dishes, or anywhere else, there’s finally an EAAT podcast in town, the Hoof Falls & Footfalls Podcast! I’m so excited Saebra is doing this, there is a definite need in the industry!

~ I love this Pieces of You EAL activity for Veterans.

~ Check out this interesting article by the Rubber Curry Comb blog about lunging, Everything in Moderation. She writes, “if you do a lot of flatwork and lunge a couple of times a week then this combination puts your horse at risk of joint injuries because of the number of circles the horse does. But if you predominantly hack or jump so ride fewer circles, then lunging a similar amount has less cumulative stress on the joints.” I wonder, if we walk our horse in circles or on the rail all day for TR, then lunge him or ride him on the rail as “variation” to his routine – is it really variation, physically? It may be variation mentally, but the similar physical impact is something to keep in mind.

State of the Blog Report

I’m going to sneak my annual blog review into this post!

Since having kids I don’t post near as much as I used to – 100 time in 2015 compared to average 25 times in 2018 and 2019! But I still have so much to share, and I want to support instructors, so I will keep chipping away at it :). I feel so fortunate that the blog stays popular and averages 200-750 page views a day, about the same as always. Wow!

At some point the blog surpassed 1,000 subscribers (ok I just checked, it was Oct 2018) which I was soooooo excited about! And the number slowly grows.

At the beginning of 2019 I donated a portion of the proceeds from the past year’s blog book sales to the EQUUS foundation’s PATH Intl. Champion of Equine Service Certification Scholarship and they said it was enough to offer a second scholarship! This is so excited because offering a scholarship was something I originally wanted to do with the proceeds but didn’t want to do it on my own, so the fact that they do it all is awesome.

In May of 2019 EQUUS announced that the “Lessons in TR PATH Intl. Certification Scholarship” would be received by Ethan Carver, a volunteer at Strides Therapeutic Horsemanship Center based in Paso, Washington. Super belated CONGRATULATIONS Ethan!!!

I recently donated a portion of the proceeds from 2019 and it was enough that they can continue this second scholarship in 2020! Hooray!

In 2019 I also attended the PATH Intl. Conference in Colorado, where I saw old friends and met new ones. I shared one activity for dementia that I learned there, and have plenty more notes I hope to share!

The last stat of 2019 I want to share is my favorite, where people visit this website from! Somehow Google Analytics knows, and they tell me the top countries that visit this blog are: 1) US 2) Canada 3) Australia 4) United Kingdom 5) New Zealand 6) South Africa 7) European Union 8) Israel 9) Ireland 2) Malaysia – isn’t that interesting? I love the feeling it gives me that we’re all connected. I wish I could meet each and every one of you!

About the PATH Intl. CTRI Transition

This is super belated, but in case you haven’t heard, PATH Intl. is updating their entry-level certification process – they are phasing out of “PATH Intl. Registered Therapeutic Riding Instructor Certification” and into “PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor” (CTRI) status. More info about it is on PATH Intl’s main CTRI page.

If you are a Registered TRI then you need to “transition” to a CTRI by Dec. 31, 2020 – the end of this year. I want to encourage you to do it, even if you don’t instruct anymore and are just hanging onto the certification just in case, because it’s easier to transition than to re-certify again later! (Not that the new certification process is any harder than before, but it’s definitely harder than transitioning!). PATH Intl. has this video tutorial to learn about the process. PATH Intl. says the first step is to pay the CTRI Maintenance Fee to initiate enrollment in the online test, take the test, then submit the CTRI Transition Form.

I did something similar for the pilot (trial) round, and it was not that hard – some of the test questions were confusing but I still passed easily, and I hear they have used feedback from the pilot run to improve the test. The test is not timed and it’s open book – all you need to know you can find in any horse care book + the PATH Intl. Instructor Manual (+ Google, let’s be honest!). The transition form is basically the old continued education form. So don’t be wary, go for it!

That’s all for now. Have a great week!

P.S. I’m always looking for activity ideas to share on the blog, and even people to write articles. If you have something to contribute, please let me know! (Link below).

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Note: This is not professional advice, this is a blog. I am not liable for what you do with or how you use this information. The activities explained in this blog may not be fit for every rider, riding instructor, or riding center depending on their current condition and resources. Use your best personal judgement! If you would like to contribute an activity or article, please contact me here, I would love to hear from you!