Cowboy Dreams Of Illinois

Causes: Ambulatory & Primary Health Care, Equestrian, Health, Pediatrics Research, Rehabilitative Care, Sports

Mission: It all started with Tim, a two-year old boy with Downs syndrome living in Colorado. Tims occupational therapist referred the child to try horseback riding as a form of therapy. The very first time Tim got off a horse he signed the word horse, his first form of any communication. After his third session, Tim was able to take his first step.

Tims experience was the catalyst to create Cowboy Dreams, Inc. in Edwards, Colorado, a viable 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Founded in 1995, the program continues to this day and serves many children in the Vail Valley on a weekly basis. Cowboy Dreams of Illinois was formed in 1999 to meet the needs of children in the Chicagoland area.

Children with many types of disabilities can benefit from the physical, psychological, cognitive, social, behavioral and communication outcomes of participating in a therapeutic riding program.

Hippotherapy is the treatment approach to therapeutic horseback riding.

During a hippotherapy session, a licensed physical, speech, and/or occupational therapist uses the horse as a medical tool, focusing on how the movement of the horse manipulates the client. The therapist(s) also work with the client on specific goals involving mobility, strength, and coordination. The horses movement, along with the non-clinical environment, produces an extraordinary effect on all the systems of the body. Therapeutic riding programs may benefit children with attention deficit disorder, brain injury, cerebral palsy, Downs syndrome, amputees, autism, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, sensory integration dysfunction, speech dysfunction, spinal cord injury, visual/hearing impairments and developmental delay, as well as many other conditions.

Cowboy Dreams of Illinois is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of contributing positively through therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy to the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well being of children with special needs in the Chicago area. The program is an Accredited Premier Center of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). Cowboy Dreams is operated under a licensed physical therapist, a NARHA certified advanced therapeutic riding instructor, NARHA registered instructors, administrators, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, an executive director, and an elected board of directors.

Volunteers form the essential core of Cowboy Dreams of Illinois by donating their time and energy. The program also depends on much needed donations, grants, local and national support through ongoing fund raising activities. All children involved in the program ride under a scholarship fund that is provided by Cowboy Dreams. Each and every donation helps and all are tax deductible.