Horse Power for Life Offers Free Lessons to Cancer Patients
A Pennsylvania-based nonprofit group is offering free horseback riding lessons to cancer patients of all ages.
Horse Power for Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Chesterfield County, Pennsylvania. Its goal is to improve cancer patient/survivor quality of life through therapeutic programs involving horses.
Horse Power for Life provides 16-week educational and recreational horsemanship programs to cancer patients and one accompanying family member at no cost. Both students will learn how to properly feed and care for horses, receive horseback riding lessons from trained equestrians, and enjoy fun horse-related activities like painting decorative horseshoes.
Organizers of the program report cancer patients improve their emotional, physical, and social well-being through interaction with companion animals. A survivor’s balance and muscle strength are improved through horseback riding and confidence is restored as new skills are mastered. As one breast cancer survivor whose testimonial is published on the program’s web site said,
“The program has given me a passion for life that I haven’t had for a long time, I just absolutely love it.”
Horse Power for Life lessons are conducted by experienced riders at Banbury Cross, Ltd, a facility which has both outdoor and indoor riding arenas and horse stables. To enroll as a student, cancer patients must have their current doctor certify they’re healthy enough to participate and emergency medical releases must be completed.
Horse Power for Life was incorporated in August 2007 and is the first organization of its kind in Pennsylvania. The results of the program’s opening months were so encouraging, the program is being expanding this year with support from a Howell Lockhart Seiple Trust 1 grant from Wachovia Trust.
If you’re in the Pennsylvania area this month and would like to support Horse Power for Life, they’re hosting a charity fundraiser at Warwick County Park on Sunday, July 13, 2008. (To learn more about Woofs 4 Hoofs Dog Walk for Cancer, click here.)
If you have questions or are interested in participating in Horse Power for Life programs, they can be reached by phoning (484) 341-8393.
For information about other outdoor recreation programs available to people living with cancer, try the Cancer.Net web site operated by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Sources: horsepowerforlife.org and businesswire.com
Related Links: Reuters; Philanthropy Journal
Technorati Tags: cancer recovery; mental health; oncology; volunteer
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