Amy Wallace of Cumming, GA has a passion and talent for helping special needs children. Amy has been an occupational therapist for 15 years, with the last seven focused on treating upper extremity injuries. In 2010 she obtained credentials as a Certified Hand Therapist, and in 2013, she began combining her love of horses and passion for healing by offering hippotherapy and equine assisted therapy.
In 2015, Amy started North Georgia Equine in Motion which currently serves over 100 children weekly, providing occupational therapy for both clinic and equine-related activities. Her clients typically range in age from two years old to 21, but she has also served adults that have MS or Parkinson’s.
Hippotherapy is a standardized curriculum that was formulated to utilize the horse’s unique quality of motion for physical, occupational and speech therapy. Sessions are performed on horseback, led by licensed therapists and trained volunteers, to facilitate improvements in balance, gait, sensory processing, visual and perceptual skills, problem-solving, and social-emotional capacities. Georgia Equine in Motion’s facility includes a new large arena, specially designed mounting ramp, ample parking and seating for guests, as well as PATH trained instructors.
Currently Georgia Equine in Motion has four skilled therapy horses…
Waylon, an 8-year-old Paint Quarter Horse
Cindy, a 12-year-old Quarter Horse
Jesse, an 11-year-old Haflinger Mare
Chip, a 9-year-old Quarter Horse
In 2014, Amy formed a non-profit agency, North Georgia Equine-N-Motion, to provide scholarships for children without financial means or insurance to cover hippotherapy, as well as, providing specialized equipment and covered arena to allow for year-long riding. These scholarships have been life-changing as the children who might not have been able to afford it are now able to participate in hippotherapy and are seeing tremendous results.
Because most of her clients have unique medical requirements, Amy’s next big goal is to make her outdoor arena better suited to serve all of her children, especially those who can’t spend a long time in the heat. It gets swelteringly hot in Georgia during the summer and can be very hard on the horses and children. Many of her clients who have epilepsy are sensitive to heat and can experience increased seizure activity during the hot weather. Also, her clients with respiratory conditions and spinal cord injuries have a decreased ability to tolerate warmer environments.
Amy is in need of a very large outdoor ceiling fan for the riding arena to assist with keeping both the horses and children cooler in the hot, humid Georgia weather. After much research, she has decided to go with a fan from Big Ass Fans®, a leader in the large fan industry. The air movement created by Big Ass Fans® can cool the riding area up 10 degrees as well as diluting inflammatory ammonia in the air, reducing odors commonly found in stables and riding arenas. Though big and powerful, these large-diameter fans are also incredibly energy efficient because they use very small motors in relation to the volume of air movement generated. The fan, once installed in the outdoor area at North Georgia Equine in Motion, will create a comfortable and natural environment allowing for more efficient training time, minimizing heat-related fatigue for the therapy horses and Amy's clients. Along with the cooling effect, Big Ass Fans® help improve indoor air quality her clients who have respiratory and allergy issues.
When Ride to Give heard about all amazing work North Georgia Equine in Motion and Amy’s desire to make the environment of the outdoor riding arena better for her clients, we knew we had to help. Your donations to our fundraiser will help purchase and install a Powerfoil 8 from Big Ass Fans®, one of the best fans on the market for use in an equestrian setting.
Amy is an amazing therapist who goes above and beyond for her clients and supporting our fundraiser for North Georgia Equine in Motion is a way for Ride to Give to widen the circle of those we help. Please help us by making a tax-deductible donation to Ride to Give.
You may learn more about North Georgia Equine in Motion by following them on Facebook.
*Contributions are solicited with the understanding that the donee organization (Ride to Give, 501c3 tax ID 46-2952297) has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds. Questions about how your donation is used can be answered on our website at http://bit.ly/2g1vWSe.
