Danada Fall Fest shows horses can help

For 4-year-old Graham Booton, horse riding isn't just fun, it's therapeutic.

When his parents saw a lack of social skills in their son, they wanted to get him help. So Graham spent many days with doctors and experts trying to break through.

But they did not see significant progress until February, when Susan Booton said they enrolled Graham in the Friends for Therapeutic Equine Activities, a Winfield-based group that offers a riding program for children and adults with special needs.

“What I like is that it's very different from other kinds of therapies sitting around and meeting with a therapist, she said. “They don't really know they are in therapy.

Graham was one of several people with special needs who trotted along on therapy horses during Danada Equestrian Center's Fall Festival on Sunday. The fest celebrates the center's heritage and history.

Along with the therapy horses, the event featured horsemanship and skills demonstrations, grooming demonstrations and children's activities throughout the day.

“We enjoy bringing children in because that is the future, said Trish Spiroff, educational site manager for the DuPage County Forest Preserve and the equestrian center.

Spiroff said the center can serve as a diversion to every day life with the equestrian programs they offer.

“It's something that happens between the human and the horse, she said. “There is an ease when people come here to leave their distractions, whether it's work or other stressors.

But just inside of the main gate, the Friends group's program coordinator and one of its founders said she got involved in therapy horses because of their effects on those who need help.

“Horses have the unique ability to allow those with special needs to put aside their disability, Nancy Winkelman said. “Putting them on a horse evens the playing field.