CHEO School surprises students with horse-drawn carriage ride

Students at CHEO School are feeling a sense of normalcy after being surprised with a horse-drawn carriage ride.

Principal Mary Murray says the students typically get outdoors for recreation therapy throughout the year, but it's been harder to do that during the pandemic. 

On Friday, June 11, the school got some help from local stable, Hollybrooke Farms. 

“They just loved it, they loved seeing the big horses and not only taking the tour around the CHEO campus, but if they chose to they were able to pet the horses safely at the end of the ride as well,” said Murray.

 

Since they didn't get to do their regular outdoor recreational activities this year due to COVID-19, the #CHEO School found a creative & safe way to get the kids outside & put smiles on faces. Some might say they've been getting up to a bit of horse-play this morning! #BestLife pic.twitter.com/59uu3NT0cO

— CHEO Ottawa (@CHEO) June 11, 2021

 

Located on CHEO's campus, directly across from Roger Neilson House, the CHEO School is an educational facility which provides a unique and innovative educational-therapy program for kindergarten students with complex physical needs.

“At least by organizing these horse-drawn carriage rides, it gave them something in the area of recreation therapy for them to do this school year,” Murray said. “This last year in a bit has been very difficult, one good example is that we would take our kids for 6 week blocks and go to the pool at the Jack Purcell Community Centre as part of recreation therapy, and its been over a year now that we haven't done that so its quite difficult.”

She says the school mission or what they call recreation therapy is showing their kids that they shouldn't be limiting themselves.