What is Greenlock?

It's Paige's infectious laugh and her seemingly bottomless capacity for joy. It's Brenden's unexpected insight and his determination not to let Cerebral Palsy call the shots for him. It's Devon's twin triumphs of holding a sitting position atop Sultan and of finding a way to convey her feelings in sign language.

This is Greenlock today - a place where some 130 riders with all types of disabilities come six days a week to sit on Greenlock's horses to strengthen their legs, teach their body what balance is or learn to hold their head up by themselves. It may also be simply a place where a horse serves as a bridge to a world that has until now been inaccessible.

Ten years ago Greenlock was launched as a part-time program with four horses, one instructor and two therapists. It was the brainchild of Edith Wislocki, an administrator for the state's Division of Mental Health, special education teacher Sheila Greenbaum, and Liz Baker, a physical therapist.

One of the things that sets Greenlock apart from other therapeutic riding centers is its hippotherapy program, which now encompasses half of the riders who come here. Therapeutic riding is the entire field of riding for the disabled, while hippotherapy is an actual medical treatment or therapy that makes use of the horse's gait to produce a response in the client's body. It may be the stimulation of muscles that lack tone in the legs or trunk or neck. It may also just be the light of recognition in an autistic client's eyes when she sees the horse with whom she had bonded.

"In hippotherapy, the horse is the tool to the health professional, not a therapy in itself" Liz explains.

Clients that come to Greenlock must undergo an evaluation by a therapist to see which part of the program is suited for them. "There are usually two things to consider", Liz says. "We want to know the developmental age of the clients and if they will need a therapist. The more informal criteria would be how mobile they are, can they sit independently, take direction, understand commands? Can they sit on a horse and get their legs around the horse?"

From there, therapists keep a watchful eye on the progress of the riders. While it is easy to measure a rider's progress on the horse, it is more elusive to spot when they are off the horse. To help fill the gaps, therapists seek information from care givers and those providing other therapies to the rider. The therapists also conduct periodic off-horse evaluations based on goals they have set - for example, has a rider with Cerebral Palsy improved his walking or sitting ability off-horse as well as on?

Just as important are the less tangible benefits that a relationship between horse and rider confers. "One of the biggest things in the field is self-esteem, no matter what the age or cognitive level or impairment of the rider", Lis says.

Those who recall Tony, the tiny Cambodian boy found wandering the streets of Providence shoeless and speechless, can attest to the miracles a horse can achieve. Terrified at the sight of a horse when he first came to Greenlock, Tony came to trust and love his mount "Mosa". It surprised no one that one of the first words Tony uttered was "Mosa". "We had to give him an extra five minutes at the end of the lesson just to hug Mosa", Greenlock instructor Ginny Filuminia remembers.

While therapists and parents are quick to tell you of the improvements they see in the riders, little actual scientific study has been conducted to quantify those improvements. One of the aims of the therapists at Greenlock is to undertake a research project in conjunction with physical therapy students that will bolster what is now mostly anecdotal evidence of the benefits of hippotherapy.

In 1992 Greenlock moved its operations to Summer Street to meet the needs of its burgeoning population of riders. These riders arrive with a mind-boggling array of disabilities - from Cerebral Palsy to autism to little-known developmental or neurological disorders such as Angleman's or Rett's syndromes. Those who find their way here do so through word-of-mouth. Greenlock has never had to advertise for clients - in fact, there is a sizeable waiting list. Greenlock has also obtained its 5-year accreditation status from the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.

Given the resources, Edith would love to see additional land acquired by Greenlock to provide more space for clients and horses. She'd also like to see Greenlock's program evolve into one where hippotherapeutic clients progress to recreational riding. She believes in the feeling of equality riding gives to disabled riders. "I like to think it's a place where people can feel normal when they're on a horse", she says. "One client's mother told me it's one of the few times he can look normal, and he wants to invite his friends to watch him ride. He wants to show them that he has a sport that they can participate in too".