Children with disabilities experience a ride at Shaw Farms Equine & Therapeutic Center. Pictured are young riders from the School of Hope, being guided by volunteers.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The riding barn at Shaw Farms Equine & Therapeutic Center is an anticipated destination for children with disabilities who visit every week. Their eyes light up when the volunteers help them mount a horse, then guide them in slow circuits around the interior of the barn.

“A child in a wheelchair, the only opportunity they might ever have to feel the normal gait of walking is by sitting on a horse because the motion of a horse mimics the bipedal motion of a person walking. For some of those children, they have never experienced what it feels like to walk, and when they put them up on that horse, it’s miraculous,” said Kathryn Thalman of St. Clairsville, a volunteer and instructor in training who spoke while owner Jeannine Shaw was occupied with the horses.

Thalman added that Shaw has offered the program for the last year and a half. She said Shaw’s lifetime of working with horses motivated her to start the program.

“We both loved horses forever,” Thalman said, adding that a nurse from the School of Hope approached Shaw about a year ago and asked if she was interested in horseback riding therapy. “It’s getting to be more and more recognized as a legitimate form of therapy, and they’re using it a lot with veterans with PTSD.”

Thalman added that the program is offered year-round, and this coupled with the location makes the service convenient for schools or parents of children with disabilities in the Belmont County area.

Katie Fischerkeller, intervention specialist with the School of Hope, observed the rides taken by students last week. She said this is the second year her classes have been using the program. She said the children involved have multiple disabilities, ranging from autism to cerebral palsy.

“You see a lot of behavior changes in the kiddos,” she said. “This helps their core strength, their back strength and their balance in general.”

Fischerkeller pointed out the excitement among the children, adding that they await their riding days with enthusiasm. Each ride last for 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the strength of the child. The students also play educational games at the farm, such as placing rings on cones.

Fischerkeller added that the location and sufficient number horses allows the School of Hope to bring students for rides twice a week.

“Where else are you going to see a kiddo who was just in a wheelchair on a horse?” Fischerkeller said.

“It’s a very good program. The kids enjoy it. It’s good exercise and socialization,” Andrea Burchett from Colerain, one of the volunteers, said. “I have horses and I like kids.”

“The difference that we’ll see (in the children) over several weeks is unbelievable,” Thalman said. “It’s remarkable therapy.”

Thalman said the volunteers at the farm work with other schools as well as setting up individual rides with parents of autistic children. The farm offers six or seven lessons weekly. She said the outpouring of volunteers has been vital, since a class for five students would call for more than a dozen guides.

“It’s very volunteer-driven, because without all those volunteers, those children couldn’t ride,” she said. “It’s a collection of people who all love horses and were asked to come and do something really wonderful with that love.”

She added that there are multiple guides to each horse when a child rides, one to lead the horse and volunteers to prevent the child from falling.

The duties demand some savvy with horses, and Shaw offers training for volunteers unfamiliar with the animals. Thalman said Shaw has completed rigorous Professional Association of Therapeutic Horse instructor coursework, including how to evaluate horses, volunteers and equipment. Thalman added that Shaw has passed her certification as a PATH instructor, and Thalman herself is taking the classes.

Thalman added that Shaw has devoted time and effort to selecting horses for the program, with a focus on the horses’ temperament.

“She has spent hundreds of hours going to see horses, buying horses,” Thalman said. “It takes a very special temperament of animal to have a wheelchair come up to it and not spook. We had a little boy who had a seizure several weeks ago as he was on the horse. We walked him and he walked out of it, but a lot of horses would have spooked.”

Thalman said many older horses are candidates for the program. She added that Shaw has close to 20 horses in the nonprofit program.

“It’s a 501(c)(3). It’s very expensive therapy to do, because horses are not cheap,” she said. “We’re grateful if anyone wants to make a tax-deductible contribution.”

A viewing room in the barn is currently under construction.

The farm is located at 47002 Watson Road in St. Clairsville. Call 740-296-0067 or visit the website at shawfarmstherapy.com or on Facebook.