About
Trading Reins utilizes therapeutic recreation and equine assisted learning (EAL) services to provide specialized therapeutic and/or education-based programs for your specific needs.
Learn more about therapeutic recreation and equine assisted learning to understand what our programs and services all about!
What is Therapeutic Recreation?
Recreational Therapy is a unique type of therapy that's goal is all about creating space and ability to participate in your passions and interests to ensure that you can feel empowered to take on the challenges life may throw at you.
Therapeutic Recreation, or Recreational Therapy, is a systematic process that utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions to address the assessed needs of an individual that supports physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing.
Therapeutic Recreation uses leisure and recreation as a key motivator to help individuals reach their best quality of life and achieve their wellness goals.
Each care plan starts with an individual assessment that explores the individual's health status, strengths and limitations, interests and passions, and any other information needed to create a goal to work towards. The Therapeutic Recreation Specialist then works with the client to create a plan of care to best achieve their goals.
Interventions can be anything from supporting a person completing exercises prescribed by their physiotherapist, to supporting the client in a community recreation program (including locating needed equipment and support needs). It can be as simple as providing family respite support for an hour with games and activities or as complicated as finding a way to do something you have always wanted to do but don't know how you can. All interventions are custom made to each individual.
The main purpose of therapeutic recreation is to improve or maintain physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual functioning in order to facilitate full participation in life. It is a unique approach to care that is tailored and fun to do!
For more information about Therapeutic Recreation check out the Therapeutic Recreation Ontario website.
What is Equine Assisted Learning or EAL?
At Trading Reins, our equine-based learning programs are all Equine Assisted Learning programs. Equine Assisted Learning is a research based experiential learning program. All facilitators are certified and registered with Equine Connection.
Equine Assisted Learning is designed from 25 years of research into horse behaviour. Horses are honest and respond immediately to stimuli. They are also forgiving - they do not hold grudges. As horses are prey animals it takes trust and safety for horses to work with people - much like people need when working in groups. There are many parallels of horses to people and lots of a-ha moments to be had.
The program itself is a Building Block approach. Skills are developed by building off of what we have learned before. It is a program that challenges people to think outside of the box to learn skills and also to learn more about themselves. Skills that are built into the program include relationship building, communication, trust, articulation, active listening, problem solving, negotiation, and many more.
Equine Assisted Learning is entirely done on the ground - that means no riding. Instead we work with our horses together on the same ground to accomplish our tasks. It is great for all ages 8 and up!
No horse experience is required, all the learning happens in the ring with the horse. Come on out and try it for yourself and give yourself the chance to grow!
Why Horses?
