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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (July 10, 2014) — Two Milligan College students are combining their passion for horseback riding and their occupational therapy studies to create a program aimed at helping children.
Karli Lichtenberger and Jenny Rose are second-year students in Milligan’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) program. Together, these equine enthusiasts are developing a graduate project that uses horseback riding to help children who are dealing with physical, cognitive or psycho-social concerns.
“Horses have had a huge impact on my life,” Lichtenberger said. “I’ve been riding since I was 5 years old, and I got my first horse when I was 16. Riding and caring for him taught me a lot about life, relationships, confidence and trust. Trust is a huge lesson for many kids.”
These are the some of the lessons Lichtenberger and Rose hope to impart to their clients through horses.
“Horses help you overcome fear,” Rose said. “Kids who have never been on a horse quickly learn that if they are calm on a horse, then the horse will be calm, too.”
The students’ therapeutic riding project is under development this summer at Doe River Gorge Ministries Inc., a Christian camp and retreat center in Hampton, Tennessee. Doe River Gorge has an equestrian arena and offers several horse programs throughout the summer. This summer, students attending the Equestrian program were given the opportunity to train with the OT students in order to assist with their project.
“We have a group of kids from a Mountain View Elementary School in Johnson City who are serving as consultants for us this summer and coming out to the camp on four Wednesdays to ride with the equine campers,” Rose said. “We are developing and writing this program based on our experience working with these kids this summer.”
Rose, a native of Muskegon, Michigan, has been riding horses since she was a child. She has worked as a wrangler and as an equine counselor at Doe River Gorge in the past, so she is familiar with the camp’s programs and facilities; she and her sister donated two of their own horses to the camp in 2009.
Lichtenberger is from Crystal Falls, Michigan, and shares Rose’s passion for riding. She boards her horse at a local stable and hopes to be able to possibly incorporate equine therapy into her occupational therapy practice when she graduates from Milligan.
“We’ve met kids who had never been on a horse and they were nervous and afraid,” Lichtenberger said. “By the end of the day, they were all smiles. That’s rewarding.”
Dr. Jil Smith, the OT professor who is overseeing their project, agrees.
“Part of the beauty of OT is that we work with anyone to help find out what’s holding them back and help them overcome those issues,” Smith said. “Many people do not realize that occupational therapists work with people in the mental health field. OT is very holistic.”
In this case, the end result of Lichtenberger and Rose’s occupational therapy project will be a written program that can train Doe River Gorge or other organizations to implement a therapeutic riding program with the facilities and equine emphasis they already have in place.
“Through these graduate projects, our students are able to provide something tangible for the community,” Smith said.
To learn more about occupational therapy or Milligan’s MSOT program, visit www.milligan.edu/msot. To learn more about Doe River Gorge, visit www.doerivergorge.com.