R.O.C.K.- Ride On Center For Kids

Building UP Community, Spirit, Strength, Hope, and Grace

• A local partnership with the Williamson County Juvenile Justice System to work with teenagers who have gotten in trouble with the law.
  Individuals who complete the program and are dismissed from probation are able to come back and volunteer serving others.
  
• Local ventures with the Horse Cavalry Detachment, 1st Cavalry Division, Ft. Hood, assist in helping soldiers who have sustained amputations, regain their balance for better walking.
  Because of this partnership, a pilot program has been inspired and planned for soldiers with amputations at Walter Reed in Washington DC.
  
• Volunteers from Southwestern University, University of Texas, Austin Community College as well as the local junior high and high schools come to R.O.C.K. and give of their time and energy to help students with disabilities receive the healing benefits of the horse.
  Students are given an opportunity to see numerous abilities and disabilities and discover the rewarding benefits of serving others. Countless volunteers have gone into the medical profession after volunteering at R.O.C.K.
  
  
• Partnerships with Texas State and UT School of Allied Health, San Antonio, allow physical therapy student to attend internships at R.O.C.K. to learn of the treatment techniques used in combining therapy with the dynamic movement of the horse.
  The treatment techniques inspired in hippotherapy tend to treat the whole individual, fine motor, gross motor, speech and functional skills.  Therapy students learn how the horse imparts these actions, and they learn creative ways to implement these same ideas for future clinic work.
  
• Partnerships with the local school district to take a miniature horse into the special education classroom for educational opportunities.
  Educators state that they have noted positive changes in entire classroom behaviour as the horse is in the room.
  
• The County 4-H organization has recently adopted R.O.C.K. as they have scheduled a fund raising bike ride to benefit the students who come to R.O.C.K.
  Individuals participating in 4-H discover yet another way that horses can help in life changing ways.
  

• Spirit of Freedom:  For individuals  with special needs, the horse gives them an opportunity to experience a new and unique type of movement.  The Horse simulates normal human walking, imparts this training to the individual, and the student benefits.
  R.O.C.K. has witnessed children that could not walk or crawl, now run.  R.O.C.K. has experienced children learning to hold their head up and speak their first words.
  
• Spirit of Adventure:  The horse is the picture of adventure, carrying its rider to new horizons.
  For the individual with special needs, this horizon is improved function as well as the admiration of their friends.  As trophies are given for special events, these students get to experience sport, and recognition just like their able bodied peers.
  
• Spirit of Change:  The three dimensional movement of the horse stimulates change in speech, balance, coordination, and behavior.
  Family members see this change, and celebrate the experience with the horse that assists in opening new doors for their loved one.

• R.O.C.K. celebrates the wonderful strength of the horse.
  An animal which has carried man through wars, travel, and industry and has formed this country.  This magnificent animal now works in the healing industry. 
  
• R.O.C.K. celebrates the strength that is seen in individuals who face special needs. 
  We celebrate the courage it takes to climb up on the back of the horse, trust the individuals around you as well as the horse to keep you safe and we celebrate the strength gained in muscle, balance, and coordination from this dynamic activity.

• The hope of a child saying its first words after riding on a horse
• The hope of child with autism having better focus to function in the classroom after riding the horse.
• The hope of leaving a walker or cane behind as balance is regained from time on the horse.
• The hope of our juveniles, finding their way in life again as they learn to trust themselves and others in their relationship with the horse.
• The hope of our soldiers returning from Iraq learning improved balance so that they can stand a little taller as they walk in this land they defended.
• The hope of improved mental health and emotional well being from time with the horse.

• The grace seen in the magic of horse and rider as lives and function improve.
• The grace when a horse connects with its rider so much so, that it stops when a child is holding its breath
• The grace that parents trust the horse and instructor and sidewalker at R.O.C.K. to keep their child safe.

“Look Back for our struggle for freedom and trace our present day strength to its source and you will find that our pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of the horse.”

Anonymous (posted in front of the Horse Cavalry Detachment, Ft. Hood)