At TROT, we have touched lives.
Our impact can best be demonstrated by success stories of our clients.
Find out more about our programs here.
One of our younger clients, two-year-old Aydin, came to us unable to walk, crawl or even pull up due to a brachial-plexus injury.
Physical Therapy at Children’s Hospital of Alabama had taken him as far as they could and suggested therapeutic riding.
TROT is the only facility in Alabama who will accept children this young. Waiting another two years for him to qualify for treatment at other facilities may have resulted in significant loss of ability to function.
After only eight sessions, he actually walked to and from the car to the barn, holding his father’s hand. He was greeted with a rousing round of applause and a few tears by the barn team.
He will soon no longer require his physical therapy sessions, and his therapists at Children’s are excited about his progress.
“When Amy started riding, she required the assistance of two side walkers. After only 18 months of therapy at TROT, she had her first independent ride with no side walkers. She couldn’t stop smiling!”
Her physical therapists are amazed at the rapid improvement in core strength, and her physician is impressed by her overall improvement in physical condition.
70-year-old Betty was referred because her diabetes was no longer manageable with medications.
She began to engage in the physical and emotional exercises at TROT, and now is off of her insulin. She is looking forward to stopping other medications as well.
65-year-old Tonya had several joint replacement surgeries. She struggled with her weight and had been told she would need to start insulin if she could not get blood levels under control.
She was unable to engage in traditional exercise due to joint pain, and often engaged in binge-eating to manage her stress.
Participating in therapeutic riding strengthened her core, enabled her to get much needed exercise and eventually impacted her food choices. She has lost 60 lbs and is well on her way to health and reduced reliance on medications.
The parents of sixteen-year-old Franklin were frustrated at their son’s reluctance to learn to drive.
His autism made driving overwhelming for him. They feared that he would always be dependent on others for transportation.
After 6 months of riding he tentatively agreed to drive the farm Ranger. After only a few sessions driving it, he agreed to take driver’s ed classes and is now driving himself to his college classes.
Franklin stated, “the confidence I got in being able to steer a living animal with its own free will made me see how I could drive a car, too. And I learned how to tune out all the stuff around me so I could pay attention to steering the horse, making it go fast and slow, and well, it was just like driving.”
Andy was born with a heart defect. During his fifth surgery attempting to correct the defect, he had a stroke.
He had no use of his arms or legs.
After spending a year on a feeding tube, his parents brought him to TROT. TROT was the only center that would accept him at two years old. Others in the region require that children be at least four years old.
Three years later he went to school, proudly walking down the hallway using his walker.
Brittany was always shy because her cerebral palsy kept her from engaging in some of the other activities the kids at school participated in. Her gait was odd, and sometimes she had trouble managing her hands.
But after 24 months of lessons at TROT, her gait is much improved, she rarely drops things anymore, and she even decided to go out for the school softball team.
And guess what – She was picked to be on the team! “Her confidence has skyrocketed, and she is making new friends. All due to what she learned at TROT.”
