GENERAL INFORMATION
MISSION
To improve the quality of life and development of people with disabilities, with special needs or vulnerable groups and with limited resources in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area through Therapeutic Riding, Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and other equine assisted activities.
VISION
To be an Therapeutic Riding Center internationally recognized for the excellence in the delivery of our services, especially for the quality and safety with which we provide in our sessions.
VALUES
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Professionalism
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Safety
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Confidentiality
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Honesty
We have great strengths, our main characteristic being our team made up of highly trained people with experience in the area, trained by PATH Intl and / or EAGALA, International Associations that regulate the activities we carry out. We currently have international recognition for our trajectory.
On the other hand, the main piece of our team, the horses, are the most suitable, since they have been worked under natural horsemanship and have been desensitized and trained for the different activities we carry out.
The focus of our work is aimed at safety, both for riders and volunteers, as well as for horses, guides and instructors. And each participant is given the treatment he deserves, through individual and personalized attention.
The impact our activities have on beneficiaries is impressive, and the results can be seen in their overall development. More and more doctors realize these benefits and recommend us; Furthermore, the media and social networks are becoming more and more interested in our activities because of how innovative they are.
BENEFITED PEOPLE
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Children, young people and adults with disabilities and with special needs in the physical, motor, behavioral, developmental and emotional areas, in the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara.
+ 100
Volunteers have joined our cause.
+ 8
Associations and Institutions with which we have created alliances for different projects.
+ 300
People from vulnerable groups attended in equine-assisted workshops under the EAGALA model
+ 180
People with disabilities included in the therapeutic riding program under the PATH Int model.
ACTIVITIES
THERAPEUTIC RIDING
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Therapeutic Riding uses the horse as the main tool for the physical, emotional, psychological and social development of people with special needs or disabilities. This therapeutic activity is carried out on horseback, developing basic riding skills focused on specific learning objectives.
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Areas that are included: THERAPY, SPORTS, EDUCATION, FUN.
EQUINE ASSISTED LEARNING
Through workshops, horses are incorporated in an experiential way for learning and emotional growth; is a joint effort between a therapist and a horse professional working with clients and horses for therapeutic purposes.
Participants learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with horses, processing and discussing thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and patterns, to create high-impact metaphors. These activities it are not mounted, they are all done from the floor.
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TERAPEUTIC RIDING
CHARACTERISTICS AND BENEFICIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE HORSE
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Three-dimensional step and multi-functional movement
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Body heat of approximately 38 °
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Pulse transmission (approximately 110 pulses per minute by walking)
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Low impact physical exercise
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Motivating agent in the psychological, social and educational area.
Developing equestrian activities represents a challenge for our riders but it is always perceived as a positive and fun, playful experience.
PHYSICAL
Horse movement has a dynamic effect on the rider's body, as it resembles a person's normal walking and is used to produce specific physical changes, including normalization of muscle tone, improve posture and balance, and increase the rider's strength.
SENSORY
The movement of the horse and the relationship established with it mitigate sensory integration problems, sharpen the senses and explore various learning channels.
EMOTIONAL
Overcoming fear and anxiety by being around a horse and developing equestrian skills helps the rider to increase his self-esteem and self-confidence. The simple fact of being close to a living being and developing an emotional bond, make this a successful experience.
SOCIAL
Therapeutic Riding also seeks to develop positive social relationships, through constant coexistence between the rider, his support team, the instructor and of course with the horse.
LEARNING
In addition to this, the horse is an excellent motivator for riders, who find a fun way to learn new things. Within Therapeutic Riding educational goals can be added (recognizing letters and numbers, following instructions, language development, coordination, etc.) and they are carried out in a way that the rider perceives them as a game.
WHO CAN IT BENEFIT
Therapeutic Riding is aimed for people with different levels of cognitive, physical, behavioral, psychological and sensory abilities.
The range is vast, including:
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Autism
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Attention Deficit Disorder
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Learning or behavioral problems
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Low self-esteem and socialization problems.
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Physical, emotional and sexual abuse
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Down's Syndrome
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Spina bifida
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Brain injuries
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Developmental delay
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Cerebral palsy
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Mental retardation
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Visual deficiency
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Hearing impairment
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Multiple sclerosis
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Muscular dystrophy
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Amputations, etc.
EQUINE ASSISTED LEARNING
It can be applied in different modalities, for example: personal and family therapy, sports teams, business teams, school groups, people in addiction recovery and anyone who wants to know themselves and achieve personal growth through directed workshops .
We work with horses because they have great power to influence people in an incredibly intense way. Horses are large and powerful, which naturally allows you to overcome fear and build confidence. The size and strength of horses are intimidating for many people, so performing a task involving a horse, despite fears, increases confidence and gives us the opportunity to create wonderful metaphors to face other intimidating situations and challenging in life. In addition, horses resemble man in the sense that they are social animals, they have defined roles within their herds and prefer to be with their own. They have different temperaments, personalities, and moods; therefore they provide us with many opportunities for metaphorical learning.
Horses are sensitive to non-verbal communication and respond reflexively to non-verbal messages they receive from participants. These responses provide the client and the therapy team with information that enables them to recognize their current behavior patterns and motivates them to change them to new ones.
OTHER EQUINE ASSISTED ACTIVITIES
The equine assisted activities revolve around the horse and lead the rider to obtain a more general knowledge of horsemanship which creates a greater bond between him and his horse, including motor, sensory, social development goals, etc. These activities are used to complement Equine Therapy. In addition, these types of activities are used for people who cannot ride a horse but who want to receive the benefits that living with these wonderful animals gives us.
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HOW CAN YOU HELP
BANK ACCOUNT
Bank: BANORTE
Name:
AMIGOS DE RIENDAS PARA LA VIDA AC
Account Number:
0210551462
CLABE:
072320002105514628
SWIFT:
MENOMXMTXXX
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You can also donate using PayPal
All incomes go to our Scholarship Fund to provide Therapeutic Riding to children and teens with disabilities.
You can bring your recycling to our facilities at Las Pomas 9 A or call us to agree to go through them. .
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Invite your school or work to join and become a collection center for our campaign.
OUR HISTORY
Amigos de Riendas para la Vida is a Civil Association that was born in 2012 in order to formalize the social work activities carried out through Riendas para la Vida since 2009.
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Ms. Mercedes Arámbula experienced all the benefits that are obtained from riding a horse, an activity that began at an early age, and when she was impacted by the birth of a nephew with a severe disability, due to Hydrocephalus and Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, she investigated how horses could help people like him, discovering a wonderful tool in Equine Therapy. That is why she decided to start the project, but realizing that in Mexico there are few places that have the necessary training and that until 2012 there was no regulatory committee for these activities, she decided to carry out her certification at High Hopes TR center, in Old Lyme Connecticut, USA, where she was certified by PATH Intl., an association recognized worldwide, for its high standards and safety regulations.
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​Upon her return to Guadalajara, in November 2009, she began giving her sessions in a borrowed location and with borrowed horses as well. The start of activities was thanks to the support of a benefactor, who offered a space on loan and offered the necessary horses at very low costs. In 2010, Riendas para la Vida was established as an Therapeutic Riding center and by June of the same year Equine Assisted Learning activities were added, after a certification of the 3 facilitators of the new team with EAGALA, the international association that regulates these activities.
From the beginning, we realized the financial difficulty that parents of children with disabilities and special needs represent in finding the necessary means to pay for this and many other therapies that their children must attend. For this reason, we began to receive scholarship participants in Therapeutic Riding, to whom the sessions were given at no cost. Obviously the range we could reach without help was greatly limited, but despite this, 25% of our riders had this support for almost 5 years; currently the percentage of scholarship recipients is almost 75% of our participants.
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In addition, since June 2012 we started a project in conjunction with Psicolocos Especializados de Jalisco SC to grant monthly sessions of Equine Assisted Learning to a group of 20 adolescents from the General Secondary School No. 59 of La Tuzanía, Zapopan, who carried out a process of almost 4 years. In the ACTIVITIES area you can see a video where we explain this process and the benefits that the participants have obtained. Our main objective in them was to reduce the levels of violence (bulliyng), increase their self-esteem and their vision for the future and reduce self-injurious tendencies, so that these young people could access better opportunities in their life.
We have also carried out events of other equine assisted activities with Hogares De La Caridad AC, a family home that houses more than 30 children and young people with Cerebral Palsy in situations of abandonment or extreme poverty. Most of its inmates cannot participate in the Therapeutic Riding Program, but for them we have organized gatherings in our facilities, with the horses and the presence of volunteers, including people from Complices AC. On our Facebook page you can see photos of these events and other activities that we carry out.
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During 2011 we undertook the task of creating the Civil Association called AMIGOS DE RIENDAS PARA LA VIDA AC, in order to access funds, both public and private, to be able to bring the benefits of our activities to a greater number of people. By 2012 we were constituted as AC and we had registration with the IJAS, INDESOL and the CLUNI, and by the end of 2013 we received authorization from the SAT as Authorized Grantee.
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It should be noted that since the beginning of our activities and until 2015 we did not receive financial support to provide any activities, they were carried out thanks to the support of volunteers and the generous work of the Instructors and Facilitators of the Riendas para la Vida team.
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In March 2015 we received support from the State Government, through COEDIS, to develop the Rehabilitation project through Horses for 18 beneficiaries, who received their Therapeutic Riding sessions from April to December 2015 at no cost to them.
In 2016 we got one more time the support of the Government of the State of Jalisco through COEDIS to grant scholarships in the Therapeutic Riding Program to 35 beneficiaries and to carry out workshops on Development of Skills using the Equine Assisted Learning model to 18 deaf students from High School 7 and High School 20 of the University or Guadalajara, a program that was carried out in conjunction with COEDIS, Educación Incluyente AC and the Asociación de Silentes de Jalisco AC.
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During 2017, 2018 and 2019 we carried out projects, again with to the support of COEDIS and the SSAS that involved sessions of Therapeutic Riding for people with dissabilities and sessions of Equine Assisted Learning for their families or caregivers, in order to help them in their acceptance process and develop skills that will help them face the difficulties of their day to day.
CONTACT US
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Las Pomas No. 9-A
La Tijera, Guadalajara, Jalisco
direccion@amigosderiendasparalavidaac.org
3314253737