STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Amy Knight has seen her 13-year-old son, Cameron, make substantial strides in his speech and core strength since he began horse riding three years ago.

He participates in the Equine-Assisted Services’ therapeutic riding program for children with special needs, one of several programs offered through the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Knight’s extremely rare BCL11A gene mutation -- fewer than 100 cases have been reported worldwide -- is characterized by varying developmental delays, seizures and autism spectrum disorder. His individual case also presents a myopathy, which affects his skeletal muscle structure and leads to quick fatigue plus frequent visits to medical specialists.

Throughout Cameron’s enrollment in the program, he has ridden once a week for 45 minutes to an hour per session. Volunteers, nearly all of whom are MSU students, flank him on each side of the horse as he rides -- these are known as sidewalkers -- while another leads the horse. Knight has been known to spend the duration of his sessions in conversation with them.

“We see the physical benefits of the core strengthening he gains from riding and balancing on the horse and the growth in his fine motor skills, but he has also felt social and emotional benefits,” his mother said. “It’s something he looks forward to. It doesn’t feel like therapy to him, and I think that is something very notable for a kid who’s been in therapy for 10 years.”

EAS accepts 12 riders per semester for the program Knight participates in and currently offers the MSU Veterans Horsemanship Program, Veterans Support Services, equine-assisted learning for children with special needs and equine-assisted learning groups for adolescents focusing on behavioral health.

Until this fall, EAS activities were based at the Elizabeth A. Howard Therapeutic Riding and Activity Center in West Point. The program’s transition to the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville will be complete in October. The program currently uses eight horses and serves up to 200 people per year between all its services.

MSU Extension EAS coordinator Lori Irvin said the move will enhance the services the program provides.

“It is really going to help with our parents being able to get their children there, and it saves the costs of us having to drive the horses back and forth,” Irvin said. “This facility is larger and has more space, but the biggest benefit for us is going to be the volunteers’ availability. Most of our volunteers are students at MSU, and this will cut down on the time and money they have to spend driving. It will be closer for everybody.”

Irvin said therapeutic riding for children with special needs includes specialized riding activities that use horses to provide physical, emotional, cognitive and psychological benefits. Equine-assisted learning is a non-mounted program for individuals that involves hands-on interactions and activities with horses.

“Goals for the riders in the therapeutic program are based on their individual needs and tend to focus on riding and social skills, motor coordination, balance and muscle strength,” Irvin said. “Therapeutic riding also benefits riders in developing confidence, improved relationship skills and increased emotional well-being and resilience.”

An instructor in the MSU Department of Communication, Knight and her husband, Adam, a professor of biomechanics in the MSU Department of Kinesiology, stand to benefit from the reduced travel time.

“The commute has been a barrier for some families, because it’s not far, but it’s far enough to be a little stressful,” she said. “The payoff has been worth it, but we have a lot to juggle, so moving the program to Starkville will be more convenient for us and the volunteer base.”

Irvin said student volunteers, many of whom have praised the experience for giving them something in return, are the lifeblood of EAS.

“Our therapeutic riding program can’t operate without them,” she said. “They are crucially important.”

She said the program has different types of volunteers: The leader is the person who leads the horse and typically has some experience with a horse but does not need to be an expert. The left and right sidewalkers do not require any experience.

“Each child will have slightly different objectives and a goal, so we’ll tell them what the goals are before we start the lesson and how that child is going to participate in that lesson,” Irvin said. “The left sidewalker is going to be in charge of helping me make sure the child is getting things handled like they need to be handled, and the rider is having fun, and then the right sidewalker is there for support. That’s kind of the silent partner.”

The Knights often share EAS volunteer opportunities with their students and are pleased when their students begin to volunteer in the program.

“This is a great service opportunity for our students, and it’s been fun to let them get a different glimpse into our life and get to know Cameron,” Amy Knight said.

“Cameron is very bright and inquisitive,” she adds, “so the conversations he has with the volunteers are so valuable to him. Autism makes it challenging for him to connect with his peers, but he connects really well with college students.”

Irvin said riders in every EAS program, including the ones for military veterans, have their favorite horses.

“Veterans come and pick out a horse at the beginning of a semester, and they ride and work with that horse the entire semester,” she said. “If they want to keep the same horse, they can. I actually encourage them to change and pick a different horse, because each horse teaches you different things about yourself. I think horses make great, benevolent leaders.”

Cameron, too, has developed a special bond with one of the horses -- a 30-year-old named Festus with a reputation for being cantankerous.

Why does he gravitate toward the grouchy horse? Festus’ temperament is noticeably improved when Cameron is around.

“He gets me,” Cameron said.

“Festus is my favorite horse, too,” Irvin added. “One time, Festus was out for a couple of weeks, and Cameron was not happy. I asked him, ‘Why do you love this horse so much?’ He said he just feels more comfortable with Festus. And we don’t have to understand why for it to work.”

In addition to the riding programs, EAS mentors those wanting to earn therapeutic riding instructor licensures and those who want to start their own equine-assisted service programs.

More information on MSU Extension’s EAS program is online at https://extension.msstate.edu/family/equine-assisted-therapy-programs.

Click here to give to Extension’s Equine-Assisted Services program.