Date of Defense
11-1-2024
Date of Graduation
4-2025
Department
Occupational Therapy
First Advisor
Tracy Young
Second Advisor
Kim Ganzevoort
Abstract
My name is Veronica Smith and I have been a CTRI (certified therapeutic riding instructor) since 2022. I began volunteering at a therapeutic riding program center in elementary school and have accumulated 5000+ hours of experiences that instilled this passion in me. With these experiences, I recognized a gap and developed my thesis project with a clear vision.
With a passion for occupational therapy, and a special interest in equines, I focused my undergrad honors thesis project that also served as my baccalaureate project for the occupational therapy assistant program around these values. I created an activity book that can be done with an equine, and can be implemented by a CTRI. A primary objective of mine was to generate purposeful activities that target developmental skills in pediatric clients.
After identifying a need, I performed preliminary research that provided evidence based practices and composed a comprehensive literature review. From the research, I created a 42 page activity book filled with activities that target specific client factors utilizing terminology specific to the field of occupational therapy but made it accessible to CTRIs. This book has the potential to be beneficial to therapeutic riding program centers, with the purpose of utilization of activities to further benefit pediatric clients’ engagement in childhood occupations. I defended my thesis through the means of a poster presentation at the Barabara Rider Colloquium at CHHS and presented Cheff with my activity book.
Through my experiences as a CTRI, I understand the need for input from skilled service professionals and hope this activity book will spark interdisciplinary collaboration between CTRIs and occupational therapists. By integrating OT principles into TR sessions, alongside of occupational therapy where indicated, pediatric clients will benefit in the areas of physical function, sensory processing, and social interaction and therefore will have improved engagement in childhood occupations.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Veronica, "Bridging the Gap Between Occupational Therapy and Therapeutic Horseback Riding: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Further Engagement in Childhood Occupations" (2024). Honors Theses. 3931.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/3931
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access