Bar 5 Equine Equestrian Centre

Bar Centre Inc. (BAR 5) provides the opportunity for participants to join in on health and wellness seminars, educational lectures, brain-stimulating activities, listen to live musical entertainment, join in on general conversations, interact with horses, and make new and meaningful friendships.

Horse Powered Reading

Reading has the power to change lives!

We give children the tools they need to become successful readers Social-emotional issues, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns often get in the way of student learning. Horse Powered Reading® can break through those challenges giving students a chance to learn or reinforce reading and other academic skills in the moment.

Horse Powered Reading® integrates social-emotional learning with academics; thus allowing students see and experience reading with their entire mind, body and emotions by creating metaphors for the skills involved in reading. Students interact with horses from the ground, while using toys and props to identify obstacles and learn five critical reading skills – phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

During sessions, students are given the opportunity to identify issues affecting learning that are identified and made visible by the client, through the use of obstacles (toys and props), which symbolize stumbling blocks that get in the way of understanding. Our program connects and students are allowed to choose their own horse to work with, just as they would choose a book to read. Students are then given an opportunity to connect with their chosen “book”.

Participants experience in memory retention and recall improve dramatically when movement anchors learning. Issues getting in the way of academic and social emotional growth are addressed by our expert team in the moment. Sessions allow students a chance to reflect on what they are experiencing and provide an opportunity to create new patterns of learning in a supported environment.

Equines and Elders – Nurtured by Nature

Seniors join us at our barn for hands-on activities with our horses and ponies. These interactions stimulate memory and provide a sense of calm and well-being both for participants familiar with horses and for those who are new to them. Our program sessions combine a number of unmounted activities based on the Equine Assisted Learning model. Each session is carefully crafted to provide our clients with physical activity, memory and speech stimulation, access to a safe outdoor environment and an emotional connection with the horse.

Wellness:

Quality of life for older adults may be negatively impacted by arthritis pain, stiffness, and decreased function. Equine assisted wellness provides a unique opportunity for older adults to improve range of motion, decrease pain, and increase quality of life. Petting or brushing the horses encourages arm movement and can act as a form of physiotherapy for those living with the effects of stroke, or multiple sclerosis. With improved outcomes in balance, strength, functional mobility. There are many health benefits from equine therapy. Sessions are held at the Bar 5 Equine centre where equine wellness offers individuals the chance to interact with horses in a relaxed environment. Our senior program sessions combine a number of unmounted activities based on interactions between horses and seniors. Each
session is carefully crafted to provide our clients with physical activity, memory and speech stimulation, access to a safe, outdoor environment and an emotional connection with an animal.

Dementia Program
The intuitive power of equines also offers healing and comfort to our senior, Alzheimer’s and dementia clients. Interacting with horses has a unique way of bringing back life memories that have been forgotten as well as favorably impacting client cognition and mood. Horses in particular bring back so many memories to an older generation that used horses for working the farms and even transportation. Some reports show seniors who hadn’t talked in months suddenly speak about growing up with a horse.

“There is only one you” – Caregiver respite program
​There is only one you and sometimes you need a break. By creating a safe, fun environment we can focus on self-care, relaxation, and rejuvenation. For senior aged caregivers caring for someone at home or in a care facility. Peace In The Barn – will give you the opportunity to work directly with the horses; engaging in activities to disconnect from day-to-day life. Through a blend of experiential activities, mindfulness and camaraderie with the horses and peers, we will support the healing of the mind, body and spirit as well as offer the perspective to experience deeper personal awareness, through our educational classes. All interactions with the horses will be done safely, from the ground. Prior horse experience is not required to participate.

Grief Support
Dealing with the loss can be life-shattering. We will conduct grief programs for seniors who have experienced the trauma of a loss, which could be many different things- Loss of pet, family member, health. The horses offer a warm body to hug and are non judgemental. Our Anxiety programs are similar and are offered as well.

Reminiscing Program
Many seniors find comfort in stroking the horses and reminiscing about childhood experiences when they first rode a pony or helped their grandfather who used horses on the family farm. Both the dementia program and the reminiscing programs will have sessions of music with songs that may trigger memories of songs from when the seniors were growing up. All dementia clients must have a care giver with them.