DENVER (KDVR) — A different type of rodeo took place Thursday at the National Western Stock Show. This one was for kids with disabilities. They held it at the brand new Colorado State University building called Spur, a free, educational year-round center open to the public.
Riding, roping and moving along those dogies, just experiencing the life of a cowboy for even a day is what draws many visitors to the National Western Stock Show every year.
For some Denver kids with special needs, they got to do what most of us will not – participate in the professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Exceptional Rodeo.
“You get to ride a mechanical bull real gently, you get to see real cowboys, you get to do some really fun things like they do in the rodeo,” Temple Grandin, CSU professor of animal science said.
Kids with special needs were treated to their very own rodeo, and it all started with the national anthem, Western-style.
“We get to give back to people like that with disabilities they don’t have their legs, horses got four, so they can give all four for you to do,” Cheyenne Draves with the Stars and Stripes Riding Team said.
Grandin said the therapeutic bond between people and animals is big medicine.
“When I was a teenager in high school I was bullied all the time, teased all the time, and one of the few places I had friends was when I was riding, and getting red horses ready for show,” Grandin said.
Grandin speaks with the voice of experience as she was challenged with autism growing up.
“I was a very autistic kid when I was three. I had no speech,” Grandin said.
And it is not just the power of animal therapy that is beneficial for treating children with disabilities, says Grandin, it is getting out and making friends that count just as much.
Less time in a chat room more time in an arena.