Hoberman Sphere: A Great Toy for Therapeutic Riding Class Game
Have you seen the Hoberman sphere?It's like a geodesic dome.
The Hoberman sphere is a colorful toy made of light weight plastic.
It expands and contracts between nine and thirty inches in diameter, as youpull or push it in and out.
Yellow, blue, purple, green, red and orange- the colors are bright and cheerful and will encourage your rider to reach out to get a hold of the toy.
As a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International instructor, formerly the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association Inc.
(NARHA) instructor using the Hoberman sphere is very handy.
It's easy to grab, extend, contract, throw, and helps create fun reaching and stretching opportunities.
You can also teach and practice color recognition with the rider who is learning impaired.
Young riders especially enjoy the bright colors.
Because of the scissor like action the sphere can be small and compact or large and expansive.
You can encourage the rider to reach down toward the stirrup, between the horses' ears, behind the saddle, near the horses' hip, or you can just have them reach out towards you.
You can roll the sphere, toss the sphere, and even wear the sphere.
Younger riders will enjoy putting the Hoberman sphere around their head and helmet and wear it around the arena.
You can also use the sphere to teach the rider to breath slowly and deeply.
Have the rider inhale as you expand the Hoberman sphereand exhale as you contract the sphere.
If a rider becomes anxious it's a good tool to reduce their anxiety by having them breathe in and out to the expansion of the sphere.
The sphere can be suspended in the air and the rider can reach for the sphere and pull it down or push it up as they ride around the arena.
The Hoberman sphere can also be passed from rider to rider with the thirty inches of expansion allowing one rider to reach for it as the other rider passes the sphere to them.
If you can think of other ways in which the sphere can be used in the therapeutic riding arena please share them.
I'd love to hear how you use the Hoberman sphere at your therapeutic riding center.
As with all toys be sure the horse is comfortable with the look,feel and sounds of the Hoberman sphere before using the toy with a rider.
Ensuring the horse is comfortable with the look, feel, and sounds associated with the sphere will guarantee a fun and safe class.
The Hoberman sphere is a colorful toy made of light weight plastic.
It expands and contracts between nine and thirty inches in diameter, as youpull or push it in and out.
Yellow, blue, purple, green, red and orange- the colors are bright and cheerful and will encourage your rider to reach out to get a hold of the toy.
As a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International instructor, formerly the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association Inc.
(NARHA) instructor using the Hoberman sphere is very handy.
It's easy to grab, extend, contract, throw, and helps create fun reaching and stretching opportunities.
You can also teach and practice color recognition with the rider who is learning impaired.
Young riders especially enjoy the bright colors.
Because of the scissor like action the sphere can be small and compact or large and expansive.
You can encourage the rider to reach down toward the stirrup, between the horses' ears, behind the saddle, near the horses' hip, or you can just have them reach out towards you.
You can roll the sphere, toss the sphere, and even wear the sphere.
Younger riders will enjoy putting the Hoberman sphere around their head and helmet and wear it around the arena.
You can also use the sphere to teach the rider to breath slowly and deeply.
Have the rider inhale as you expand the Hoberman sphereand exhale as you contract the sphere.
If a rider becomes anxious it's a good tool to reduce their anxiety by having them breathe in and out to the expansion of the sphere.
The sphere can be suspended in the air and the rider can reach for the sphere and pull it down or push it up as they ride around the arena.
The Hoberman sphere can also be passed from rider to rider with the thirty inches of expansion allowing one rider to reach for it as the other rider passes the sphere to them.
If you can think of other ways in which the sphere can be used in the therapeutic riding arena please share them.
I'd love to hear how you use the Hoberman sphere at your therapeutic riding center.
As with all toys be sure the horse is comfortable with the look,feel and sounds of the Hoberman sphere before using the toy with a rider.
Ensuring the horse is comfortable with the look, feel, and sounds associated with the sphere will guarantee a fun and safe class.
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