Riding to Success: Multi-disciplinary Therapy at The Barn
You probably know about The Pediatric Place’s clinic locations in Clinton and Knob Noster. You may know that TPP therapists serve children in our community through school and First Steps services. But did you know that TPP also provides therapy services on horseback?
Sue Becklenberg has been a Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International for nearly 20 years. Following Sue’s retirement from The University of Missouri, Sue opened The Barn Therapeutic Riding Center in Leeton and began partnering with The Pediatric Place (co-owned by Sue’s daughter, Jessi Frencken), to provide equine-assisted therapy services with a multidisciplinary model. March through December, physical, speech, and occupational therapy sessions take place in a peaceful, rural environment, with engaging activities tailored for each child’s unique goals.
“Riding a horse is a very empowering experience that not only provides physical benefits but also increases self confidence and decision making skills,” Sue explained. “Most of the participants do not realize how hard they are working because it is so much fun.”
Among Sue’s favorite things about her work at The Barn is the opportunity to witness the progress kids make in therapy, especially those who have been coming to The Barn for several seasons.
One of those kids is Finn. Diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy, Finn receives speech, occupational, and physical therapy at The Pediatric Place. Finn looks forward to therapy sessions at The Barn each summer.
“Finn loves animals, and horses are no exception,” explained Finn’s dad, Steve Price. “So he’s willing to try new things that he might be more hesitant to do in traditional therapies. He’s also gaining core strength. He works on this in clinic-based physical therapy sessions as well, but on a horse, he’s working his core the entire time and he doesn’t even realize it. He’s become so much stronger in his core, and it’s helping his speech and his confidence.”
Finn’s speech therapist, Carmen Rathert, agrees that Finn’s sessions at The Barn have enabled his therapists to collaborate in a way that has resulted in progress across disciplinary areas. “Finn is one of the strongest kids I know,” she explained. “Weak core muscles, due to his diagnosis, didn’t allow for him to sustain prolonged airflow with abdominal grading for speech. A weak core doesn’t provide enough stability for elevation of his tongue or activation of lip muscles for /m/, /p/, and /b/ sounds. He struggled with rounding his lips for ooo and oh, but this kid has improved so much! With the help of PT and OT, he can now round his lips to blow bubbles! He is learning how to consistently produce all of his sounds in sentences. He tells the horses to ‘whoa’ and ‘walk on.’ His first horse was named ‘Bucky,’ and boy we practiced that!”
Carmen has seen similar results with many of her clients who have participated in sessions at The Barn. “When I’m working alongside physical and occupational therapists, I learn from them,” she said. “We all share a common goal to make the child stronger, more stable physically, and better able to communicate.”
For the Price family, therapy sessions at The Barn have resulted in observable progress on many of Finn’s goals. But beyond that, a day at The Barn is a day of fun and joy. “Just seeing him smile and hearing him laugh at The Barn is often the highlight of my day,” Steve said. “It’s not just learning how to ride a horse. It’s so much more.”
For more information about pediatric therapy services in any of our locations, call our office at 660-219-9176 (Clinton) or 660-219-9381 (Knob Noster).
By Amy Wolcott, M.S., CCC-SLP