I think horses help people...
to be confident.
Make more possibilities.
Because horses are prey animals,
the horse will automatically pick up our feelings.
And it really works on being in the moment,
being present together,
and that's the beauty of the relationship.
I am Lucy Davis.
I am a member of the US Equestrian team...
and in 2016 at the Rio Olympics,
I helped the team bring home a silver medal
in show jumping.
It's her first Olympics but she's already
ridden in three World Cup finals,
and was the world team bronze medalist in 2014.
...America.
I've been riding since I could walk.
Horses are a huge part of my family.
My grandfather worked in horse racing...
so he introduced us to...
Other than family, horses have been pretty much
the only consistent thing in my life.
Yeah, this is it.
Today, we're in Long Island, New York,
at Pal-O-Mine Equestrian center
which is a therapeutic riding barn.
I'm gonna shadow some of their lessons,
learn a bit more about their programs,
and hopefully watch their show tomorrow.
First thing I'm gonna do is meet Lisa Gatti,
the founder of Pal-O-Mine,
and she and some of the students
are gonna take me on a tour of the property.
-Here she comes. -Hi, Lucy.
-Hi, Lisa -Hi.
-How are you? -Good.
-Nice to see you. -Nice to see you.
Pleasure to meet you.
-Nice to see everyone. -Welcome to Pal-O-Mine.
Thank you.
We thought that we would take you on a tour...
-Perfect. -...of the property...
-Awesome. -...and the barn.
Pal-O-Mine Equestrian
is a not-for-profit organization.
We are a multifaceted equine center.
This is our barn where we have our lessons.
We facilitate growth, learning, and healing,
teaching individuals with disabilities,
both cognitive, physical impairments,
emotional disabilities, using a foundation of horses.
So why don't we take Lucy in there?
Okay.
It's a really cool place to be.
That's easy.
Rainbow reins, and pony reins, and bridle reins.
These are the helmets.
You come in, and you get your helmet and reins,
and you put your helmet on for safety.
So you guys only bring the horses in for grooming...
-Yes. -...and feeding?
Definitely. We groom them every day.
Great.
Hey, Tim, why don't we go in?
This is the mini horses.
They're extremely cute.
What programs are the mini horses used for?
So, the mini horses are used for kids with severe trauma,
and this is exactly what we do.
-Is this the garden? -Look!
This is the-- this is the garden.
-Can we go in? -Let's take a closer look.
Okay, so,
-Tim, is this your plot? -Yup.
That's my broccoli, my zucchini...
eggplant, lettuce, peppers, basil, tomatoes.
Horses are really a powerful force.
Horses live in the moment and are present.
Our students
develop automatically that relationship...
and it really becomes about
the horse and the student at that given moment.
Let's go find Shapa, Barret.
Who's Barret riding?
Barret's riding Shapa, she's a haflinger.
Good boy.
Okay, so we concentrate.
Barret look at Shapa.
There you go.
Barret has been with Pal-O-Mine since year 2000.
He's 26 years old now.
He has cerebral palsy.
All right, ready to go get on?
His core strength was very, very poor.
He was only able to sit on the horse
with his back rider for 15 minutes.
All right, bud, you ready?
All right, so the lift comes down.
Goes under his arms, under his legs,
and bring him over.
Nice and easy, Barret.
Because of the horse's movement,
and the improvement in his range of motion in his legs,
his postural control became stronger,
little by little.
All right, let's go, Shapa.
He was able to sit on the horse independently,
and now he rides twice a week for 30 minutes.
Okay, take a few more steps.
The movement of the horse will help rearrange
the nervous system going to the brain...
and help create some balance...
and as we move, it increases...
and then, you know, think of someone that's
nonambulatory as Barret.
This gives him such an opportunity
to use his body in a different way.
Yeah.
All righty.
Let's park.
-All right, are we ready to go? -Yeah.
-Say, "Walk please." -Walk please.
We're doing hippotherapy today.
My favorite horse is Ella
because she is nice. She's pretty and fun.
Emma, how long have you been riding for?
Four years.
Four years?
Wow.
How old are you?
-Six and a half. -Nice.
Emma is diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.
In hippotherapy, Emma is in a treatment session,
and they're using Ella's movement
to facilitate Emma's movement.
Which ball would you like?
The soccer ball.
Dunk?
-Nice shot. -Let's try it again.
These kids, they're often inundated with therapy,
in school, out of school,
and they just come here.
Emma is getting a treatment session by a licensed OT,
but Emma is just having fun.
You're gonna do it yourself? Go ahead.
-Pick up your leg. -Thank you.
-Here you go. -Nice.
-Yeah. -Let's go.
Okay.
If I can get it...
before I ask.
She has hearts on her bridle.
She has hearts on her bridle? Nice.
Brian was diagnosed with epilepsy right from birth,
and then a couple years in, he had a stroke...
Did I put this on right?
...that has affected his processing,
and he had some challenges.
Get all that hair out of the way.
Make her look pretty.
Any more than one step directions
were difficult for him.
I like Lucky, Ella, and Gigi.
Being in the dressage arena for a kid like Brian,
the patterns, the multistep directions,
that plays a big part for Brian to practice.
And turn up your center line, and tap, and trot.
Trot, trot, trot!
I lost it.
Just walk a nice big circle, okay?
And then end back up at C.
So how long have you and Brian been working together?
So we've been together for almost four years.
When he started out Ella, it was just me and him,
and I would lead him around,
and now he is completely independent.
He's come a very long way
in the last few years that he's been with me.
-You got to make her... -Continue trotting.
...continue trotting, right?
In my lesson, I was training for the show.
I was riding through the cones. I was working on steering Ella.
Ella has taught me...
to be confident,
to be independent...
and to be patient.
So tomorrow, we're really just gonna pay attention
to the ring that we're in, right?
And I don't even think you need me to read it to you.
-Right? -I remember it.
You remember it.
I love seeing the different lessons,
and how everybody was working on
kind of completely different missions.
Being a horse person yourself,
what do you think of that SureHands lift,
and how tolerant the horses were?
'Cause that always amazed me.
I feel like people always...
see horses and they think they're so big, and majestic,
and powerful, which they are,
but they're also prey animals.
So they're very sensitive, and intuitive,
and I feel that when I'm competing, too.
Sometimes I'm sort of calming my horse.
Sometimes I feel my horse kind of taking care of me,
and you can see that dynamic.
Felt that today with the kids.
You look pretty under here.
Got it.
That's all the water.
Good job. I'm very, very proud of you.
-You did a great job today. -Thank you.
Are you excited about tomorrow?
-Yup. -Yeah?
How do you guys run the shows at Pal-O-Mine?
We usually have three shows a year.
Tomorrow's show is a bit unique
because we'll have two rings running at the same time.
An “eque” ring, and a dressage ring.
There’ll be 33 riders that will go.
And I'm definitely excited for the show tomorrow.
Go on, take it.
You can do it.
It's show day here in Pal-O-Mine,
and we're very excited to see how all of the horses
and riders from yesterday do in their competition.
-Are you excited? -Yeah.
-Are you nervous? -Very excited.
Very excited? Is this your first show?
No, the second one I did, I got first,
-and this is my third. -This is your third?
Got it, all right.
-Thank you. -Have fun.
Ladies and gentlemen,
it is my honor and pleasure to introduce to you
this Pal-O-Mine mounted trophy.
It's truly a labor of love for the horses,
and all else that they do here.
These horses can do it all;
from therapy to horse shows,
these horses are at their very best.
118, Brian.
Riders who really desire to become athletes,
they set goals just like anyone of us,
and those goals are measurable...
Next! Move your horses up.
...and then riding becomes limitless,
and that's the power of sport.
The first at the walk...
we have Barret on Shapa.
All right, Barret, good luck.
-Woah, it's hot! -All right.
How far has she come since she started riding here?
Oh, her core, her balance.
Not only physically, but emotionally,
she's gotten more confident.
She just loves it. It just makes her happy.
Beautiful job, Emma.
Emma, nice job.
All hands in. Ready, one, two, three.
All right, you're being judged at the walk here.
Nice and straight.
Straight.
That's it. Now, turn left.
There you go.
Megan was actually pretty frightened in the beginning.
She did not wanna get on the horse first couple of times,
but she pushed through,
and she becomes very proud of herself
when she overcomes some of those challenges.
All right, get those leads.
Everybody got their leads, right?
-Did a super job, buddy. -Thank you.
Yeah, you've come a long way, I remember when
-you started riding here. -Yeah.
You did a great job maintaining an immobile hop,
and I really liked your use of corners.
-You did a great job. -Thank you.
Good job, Barret.
And in first place, number 102.
Megan on Shapa.
Yes!
I see you, Megan.
-Thank you. -Great job.
And great job to all of you riders.
I love you, Mom!
Love you-- love you squeeze!
I love you too, Dad.
Come on!
Yeah, baby.
Amazing.
That's big, baby!
Yeah!
Our sport is so unique for many reasons,
but most importantly because you're working with an animal.
-Great job. -Thank you.
You're working towards a goal, and you're competing,
you sometimes lose sight of the reasons why
or the reason why you're here,
and that's because we all love the horses.
-Yeah. -Good ride, guys.
Good ride.
So the power of this sport is them,
and that's what we saw working here at Pal-O-Mine.