Cameron Wilson of Maynard was two-and-a-half when his parents introduced him to occupational therapist Monica Wu, Dougie the pony, and Reinbow Therapy. Born prematurely, Cameron suffers from sensory processing disorder, and intervention began when he was four months old.
About two years later, still non-verbal and not walking, he began hippotherapy at Eleazar Davis Farm in Bedford, almost as a last resort. Hippotherapy is defined as “the use of equine movement as a therapeutic or rehabilitative treatment, especially as a means of improving coordination, balance, and strength.”
The improvement was almost immediate. And after five years, the experience has been transformative. Now he is seven, and his weekly sessions with the pony are highlights, said his mother Ashley, who lives in Maynard.
Now the farm is for sale, and if the equestrian opportunity is lost, it would be “devastating,” she said. Wu concurred. “I am so concerned. I would hate to see a developer buy it and it doesn’t stay a farm. There’s got to be a way.”
Lisa Samoylenko who put the property on the market plans to remain in the historic residence has said she hopes she can sell the buildings and fields to someone who will continue the equestrian operation or at least maintain agricultural use. The area is zoned for residence; if the developable land was to change from its current agricultural exemption, the town would have first refusal.
Wu, who lives in Lexington, said she began riding as a child and has been able “to merge my profession and my passion, which has been amazing. When I go to work, I don’t feel like I’m working.”
As an occupational therapist, Wu said, she incorporates hippotherapy into her treatment sessions. “Hippotherapy is really all about using equine movement to work on therapy goals. It’s medically based and I prefer to call it therapeutic riding.”
Clients who benefit from equine movement include those suffering from genetic disorders, sensory processing issues, or neuromuscular disorders, she said, adding that they range in age from two to adult. “He’s sensitive to movement, and being on Dougie helps him,” Ashley Wilson said about her son.
The experience is “physical, it’s cognitive and sensory-based,” Wu observed. “The large population that I do work with are children who are on autism spectrum disorder. There’s really no diagnosis that I don’t work with, except for limitations like uncontrollable seizures or a bar placed in the spinal cord.”
“As a therapist, I use equine movement as a treatment strategy, working on specific therapeutic goals – sensory processing, balance, strengthening,” she explained. “It’s all medically based. The client straddles forward, faces sideways, backward. I use the horses as a platform for the movement.
“I am not teaching a riding lesson. I am using the movement so my client will respond and I can adapt the movement accordingly to my client’s response. So if I am trying to balance muscles of a stroke victim I will work on certain positions, speed, and direction of the horse.”
Monday morning, handler Carol Johnson managed Dougie with Cameron on board, wearing a helmet and a safety belt, with Wu walking alongside, conversing, encouraging, and directing the therapy routine.
Dougie walked casually around the perimeter of the big indoor arena, then zigzagged through portable soft plastic columns designated by letters. Cameron chose the destinations, sometimes stretching to place a plastic ring over a column. The child pressed on the pony, occasionally spoke to it, moving his body with the animal’s movements. At one point the team turned Cameron completely around for a walk with a backward view. “It does so much for his self-confidence,” Ashley Wilson said.
“The whole team develops a relationship. The child develops a relationship with the horse and the team. The magic happens because of equine movement and sensory involvement,” Wu explained. She pointed out that an autistic person has difficulty responding to facial expressions. “Somehow the horse is easier for the child to understand. Horses don’t have as many emotions in their face. It’s very clear communication.”
Wu worked at facilities that provided therapeutic riding skills for children and adults before starting her own business in 2007. She has two certifications for this specialized training. She has four horses of her own, including two miniatures and a pony, that she incorporates into her therapy sessions, including visits.
Wu’s relationship with Davis Farm began when her horses boarded there over the winter. “And I just asked, ‘Can I stay on and provide therapy services?’ It started in July and it has been awesome.” She’s there two mornings a week, serving five clients.
Her schedule was set back when farm owner Lisa Samoylenko closed the operation for several weeks in response to the pandemic. “She needed to keep her staff healthy,” Wu said. “Davis Farm opened slowly in the governor’s phase one, and I slowly brought in my clients. It took weeks to figure out exact protocols and how to make it work.”
Now the therapist, side walkers, and clients are all masked, and each child has his or her own gear. Wu does temperature checks to start each session and she is only seeing families that she knows well. “About 50 percent of my clients I am not able to service safely right now. Families understand that safety for everybody my number one priority,” she said.
“I’m getting used to the emotional drain of remembering all the things you have to do,” she said.
Wu said she and Bernie, one of her miniature horses, recently visited a Bedford resident who is under hospice care at home. “It really made her day. My mission is to give back and make a difference in someone’s life every day.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
Click this link to learn more about The Bedford Citizen’s first community reporter.
Editor’s Note on August 28, 2020: Wu’s treatment strategy is properly referred to as therapeutic, not adaptive.
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