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CNN Live Sunday

Healing Horses

Aired August 10, 2003 - 11:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: They call it the magic of the movement. Using horses for therapy to help children with special needs. Rhonda Grayson has the story of some healing horses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Awesome. You are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you have a child with special needs, as a parent, any stride they make to improving their quality of life, it just lights you up.

RHONDA GRAYSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Her daughter Jennifer is deaf and blind, receiving hippotherapy, or therapy from a horse. At DreamPower Equestrian, they call it the magic of the movement. Because as the horse walks, the movement of its pelvis teaches the rider to walk and to move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many children can benefit from this program. We see a lot of children who have cerebral palsy, autism, sensory processing disorders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very gentle.

GRAYSON: Angela Litterella has been riding since she was 3. She spends most of her time in a chair, but when she gets up on her horse, she sees the world through different eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time a child -- they don't have much control over anything in their lives. When they can sit on top of a thousand-pound animal and be able to say walk on, and have that kind of relationship where it actually moves and goes, there's a feeling of bonding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walk on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk on, good job.

GRAYSON: DreamPower founder, Casey Wiederman, says seeing an expressionless child ride a horse...

CASEY: It's magical. This child came alive, and her face just beamed. Her eyes sparkled.

GRAYSON: Sitting on the backs of Big Beau, Princess Buttercup, Sunny Delight, and Rutger, the therapists say the children respond better than in a clinical environment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can work on balance. I can work on strengthening. I can work on sensory processing, I can work on range of motion. I can work on all these things all at once in an instant moment, and you can't often get that in a clinic.

GRAYSON: It's clear to see the strong bond between these children and their horses and their parents say it's this positive connection that helps them build their self-esteem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he is on the horse, he is in a different world. He's happy, confident. He's all -- he's sits straight. He hasn't since he was 2 years old. He sits straight. His balance is perfect. They never have to center him.

GRAYSON: Christopher was born on Christmas day weighing only one pound, seven ounces. His mother calls him her miracle baby, and she says he's has achieved many milestones in the saddle and he is not alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am blessed with being able to see kids talk for the first time on the horse. I'm blessed with being able to see a have a little boy who, in six sessions, started to walk.

GRAYSON: Special results from a special type of therapy.

Rhonda Grayson, CNN, Alpharetta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired August 10, 2003 - 11:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: They call it the magic of the movement. Using horses for therapy to help children with special needs. Rhonda Grayson has the story of some healing horses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Awesome. You are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you have a child with special needs, as a parent, any stride they make to improving their quality of life, it just lights you up.

RHONDA GRAYSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Her daughter Jennifer is deaf and blind, receiving hippotherapy, or therapy from a horse. At DreamPower Equestrian, they call it the magic of the movement. Because as the horse walks, the movement of its pelvis teaches the rider to walk and to move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many children can benefit from this program. We see a lot of children who have cerebral palsy, autism, sensory processing disorders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very gentle.

GRAYSON: Angela Litterella has been riding since she was 3. She spends most of her time in a chair, but when she gets up on her horse, she sees the world through different eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time a child -- they don't have much control over anything in their lives. When they can sit on top of a thousand-pound animal and be able to say walk on, and have that kind of relationship where it actually moves and goes, there's a feeling of bonding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walk on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk on, good job.

GRAYSON: DreamPower founder, Casey Wiederman, says seeing an expressionless child ride a horse...

CASEY: It's magical. This child came alive, and her face just beamed. Her eyes sparkled.

GRAYSON: Sitting on the backs of Big Beau, Princess Buttercup, Sunny Delight, and Rutger, the therapists say the children respond better than in a clinical environment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can work on balance. I can work on strengthening. I can work on sensory processing, I can work on range of motion. I can work on all these things all at once in an instant moment, and you can't often get that in a clinic.

GRAYSON: It's clear to see the strong bond between these children and their horses and their parents say it's this positive connection that helps them build their self-esteem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he is on the horse, he is in a different world. He's happy, confident. He's all -- he's sits straight. He hasn't since he was 2 years old. He sits straight. His balance is perfect. They never have to center him.

GRAYSON: Christopher was born on Christmas day weighing only one pound, seven ounces. His mother calls him her miracle baby, and she says he's has achieved many milestones in the saddle and he is not alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am blessed with being able to see kids talk for the first time on the horse. I'm blessed with being able to see a have a little boy who, in six sessions, started to walk.

GRAYSON: Special results from a special type of therapy.

Rhonda Grayson, CNN, Alpharetta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com