Innovative horse simulator helps riders with disabilities saddle up

Wolfgang Depner · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 23, 2025 5:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

"Do you privation to spell faster?" 

Jayne Imeson already knew the reply she was going to get from her six-year-old son, Casey, sitting astride his caller steed successful a parkland successful Central Saanich, B.C.

He nodded with a smile.

"Always faster — this kid loves his speed," Imeson said.

Casey's accustomed thrust is simply a Fjord equine named Valla, but connected Thursday, helium became the archetypal authoritative idiosyncratic of the MiraColt horse-riding question simulator developed for the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association (VTRA). 

The first-of-its-kind instrumentality combines a commercially disposable riding simulator with an app-based bundle exertion designed by CanAssist, an organization part of the University of Victoria, dedicated to helping radical with disabilities.

The strategy allows riders to power the velocity of their simulated thrust done a assortment of virtual trails. The assemblage says it's aimed peculiarly astatine people unable to thrust a existent horse.

Casey has cerebellar ataxia affecting his musculus control, but helium tin thrust Valla astatine the VTRA, which has 13 horses of antithetic sizes and kinds.

But Casey's toothy grin arsenic helium rode the MiraColt suggested it was a bully substitute.

Users who straddle and sway connected the instrumentality the size of a ample suitcase tin prime the country displayed connected a surface — a section park, an municipality thoroughfare oregon the Arizona desert.

"It replicates the question of a equine astatine the gait of a walk," said Liza Gagel, enforcement manager of the VTRA.

"It tin spell from a precise dilatory locomotion to a very, precise accelerated walk, and the locomotion is really the astir beneficial gait for therapeutic purposes, for some carnal and intelligence movement."

Gagel said the simulator had the committedness to assistance her enactment conscionable increasing demand, arsenic they are constricted by the fig of hours, horses, and unit they have.

"So we are trying to fig retired however we are going to conscionable the needs of our community, and past CanAssist showed up astatine the close time," she said.

Paul Green, subordinate manager of operations and exertion improvement with CanAssist, says the task is an "ideal example" of the collaborations they similar to enactment on.

"As overmuch amusive arsenic it could beryllium for maine and the tech improvement squad to hop into a country and commencement reasoning of creating the adjacent top assistive technology, that's not however we operate," Green said. "We enactment successful effect and ideate successful effect to requests from the community."

That could beryllium an idiosyncratic with a disability, a clinician, an educator, oregon an enactment similar the VTRA, Green says. CanAssist determines whether there's an existing solution, whether that tin beryllium modified, oregon whether they request to plan a caller 1 from scratch.

"This task was fundamentally a operation of that — immoderate of it existed successful presumption of the MiraColt mechanical piece, but connecting that with a CanAssist-designed, more immersive acquisition for their clients and participants."

About 230 participants instrumentality portion successful the riding association's program, Gagel said, with 50 much radical waiting.

She said the simulator would let riders to lukewarm up their muscles and amended halfway strength, or allow people with behavioural challenges to merchandise immoderate of their energy, earlier riding a existent horse.

The simulator tin besides easy determination to different locations.

"We tin really prime it up and instrumentality it to clinics oregon a physiotherapist's bureau oregon people's homes, if that is simply a need," Gagel said.

Imeson says she's seen the benefits of therapeutic riding. 

Casey has been riding with the relation for 2 years, and the improvements person "truly been incredible." 

She said the simulator "does an unthinkable occupation of replicating the equine movement," and she believes it would assistance her lad marque further gains. 

"When helium is successful league present ... he's ever improving his abilities and his equilibrium and his centrifugal skills and his reflexes," she said. "It's leaps and bounds."

The simulator is the 3rd task betwixt the riding relation and CanAssist during a 15-year collaboration with 2 section donors, Lynda and Murray Farmer, covering the afloat outgo of the project, which is undisclosed.

The different projects include a saddle enactment to assistance a rider with cerebral palsy beryllium upright, and a acceptable of steps resembling a tiny staircase that helps riders get connected a cart for 1 of the VTRA's programs.