Last summer I spent four weeks of fieldwork at Freedom Woods Equestrian Center where they give lessons, they compete in shows, and they’re also home to the clinic of a wonderful OT, Paula Lundell. Paula uses horses as her therapeutic tools in her OT practice, which is called hippotherapy. She asked us to come up with a project for her. I immediately thought of using my quilting skills to make something for Paula’s clinic.

My initial idea was to make a field of prairie points that the kids could put clips on. Paula likes these clips in her clinic for all kinds of activities because they promote fine motor, motor planning, and bilateral coordination, which is just a fancy way of saying, both sides are working together. Clients can stabilize a point with one hand and put the clip on with the other. It can also be used to practice color identification, which integrates the visual system and communication as well.

Another student was on this fieldwork with me, my friend Hamilton. He said the prairie points were cool but weren’t very horsey considering the setting we were in. I thought he had a fair point so I decided to make a second side and make it horse themed.

Horse side of toy, displayed on stand made by Hamilton

detail. Named the horse Lamilton, a combination of Laura and Hamilton :)

It features prize ribbons that provide sensory stimulation. The velcro itself gives great sensory input, plus the ribbon’s tails are all different textures. I affectionately refer to them as Crinkly, Fluffy, Lumpy, and Bumpy. Again, they can be used to practice color recognition and they’ll promote bilateral coordination as kids use both hands to take them off and put them back.

The final detail is the horse’s mane, which is 3D so the kids can put clips on there as well. This is something that Paula will often do in the arena on the real horse. One day we watched a kiddo get upset, worried that he was hurting the horse by pulling off the clips. Horses don’t have nerve endings in their manes, which is something I learned this summer, so it doesn’t hurt them at all. So this can be a great practice activity in the clinic before introducing it on the actual horses and clients can learn that it won’t hurt them. I constructed this project like a pillowcase, with one side open, and Hamilton made a beautiful wood stand for it to slide over. We wanted to be in the vertical plane instead of lying down on the table because working on a vertical surface has its own benefits, like engaging the muscles of the shoulder girdle and core, promoting visual tracking, and spatial awareness. Placing the wrist in extension encourages better control of the fingers, and working against gravity is a great strengthening activity.

I made the prairie points with the help of a tutorial by Hayley Grzych on the Bernina blog. I enlarged a paper pieced pattern by Made by Marney to make the horse side.

It was really fun to get to see it put to use in the clinic during our last week there. This month made me a true believer in the magic of horses and hippotherapy. I feel so lucky that I got to spend time there, and honestly, it felt more like summer camp than work and I loved every minute.

spending time in the garden at Freedom Woods

I also made a little gift for Paula to show my appreciation for everything she shared with us during our time at her clinic. I tried to model the horses after the four horses she uses for therapy, Marshmallow, Nelly, Pumpkin, and Flash.