Carriage Driving

Carriage driving is another Equine Assisted Activity that involves riding in or actually driving a cart or carriage pulled by a horse. People with disabilities that restrict their movements, such as those who cannot easily transfer from a wheelchair, can participate with the security of an adapted cart. Benefits include improvements in balance, posture, coordination and emotional well-being.

Carriage driving has many additional benefits:

• Driving provides a recreational and sporting experience with a horse.
• It provides a mental challenge similar to that of riding, the challenge of working in harmony with a horse and learning an equine skill step by step.
• Carriage driving encourages the development of self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment as various maneuvers are learned.
• It can improve the cognitive skills of sequencing, following directions and differentiating between left and right, etc.
• Driving is another venue for socializing with other participants, the volunteers and instructors, and of course, the horse. It offers another opportunity for developing relationships, equine and human, of mutual respect and trust.