National conference on therapeutic riding hosted in Puslinch

PUSLINCH – The Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association (CanTRA) celebrated 45 years of leadership with a national conference in Puslinch on May 31 and June 1.

The conference was hosted by Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre and Crieff Hills Retreat and Conference Centre, with the celebration banquet at the Guelph Delta Hotel and  Conference Centre.

Delegates attended from across Canada and experienced a weekend of excellent educational sessions, organizers said.

They included keynote speaker Pippa Hodge, a pediatric physiotherapist and CanTRA coach/examiner from British Columbia as well as two local speakers –  director of Equine Guelph Gayle Ecker and president and lead instructor at SHIFT Concussion Management  Scott Haller.

Also speaking were:

– Madeline Boast, an equine nutritionist from the University of Guelph;

– Dr. Steven Mock, a professor of recreation and leisure studies at University of Waterloo and an avid equestrian; and

–  Paralympic athlete and journalist Jeff Tiessen.

The majority of delegates were CanTRA certified therapeutic riding instructors, but also in attendance were program directors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech language pathologists in addition to program volunteers eager to learn more about the benefits of therapeutic riding.

Several speakers generously allowed their sessions to be recorded to provide ongoing educational resources for future candidate instructors.

“This was a most successful and highly acclaimed event, and it was an honour to host this conference in Ontario and to celebrate Canadian leadership,” officials stated.