By Tuncay Kayaoglu
ISTANBUL (AA) – “I know that they cannot hurt me,” says nine-year-old Muhammet Kaan Kabak, talking about a special bond between him and his horse.
The dark-haired boy deliberately uses the word “hurt” – five years ago, he lost his father.
Although Muhammet had no physical problems and was able to speak when he was only 13 months – very early compared to his peers – the trauma of his father’s death caused him to cut his interactions with the outside world.
Muhammet’s mother, 40-year-old Hanim Kabak, tells Anadolu Agency: “He was only shaking his head or blinking [to communicate].”
Until last year, he was only interacting with his mother. For everyone else, he erected a huge wall of silence, resisting any spoken communication.
Thanks to equine-assisted therapy, Kaan re-established his connection with outside world a year ago.
The therapy includes a range of treatments which encompass activities with horses.
The Jockey Club of Turkey launched the therapy center a year ago to offer this unconventional treatment method to Turkish people. It is based at Istanbul’s only racetrack in Zeytinburnu on the city’s European side.
The center was opened on May 14, 2015 during Turkey’s Disability Week. Disabled people constitute around six percent of the Turkish population (approximately 4.5 million people), according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data from July 2015.
Bercis Merdanoglu, chairman of the center and a psychologist, told Anadolu Agency that the club has been doing some charity work and launched this initiative as a part its campaign.
“The club invested a lot in this center. We picked up special horses from special farms and trained them for six months,” Merdanoglu says. The Istanbul facility has four horses and 10 staff.
Yasin Kadri Ekinci, chairman of the Jockey Club, said that the club has made use of its resources for the general welfare.
The center has produced good results although it is only a year old, she said, adding that a similar facility was set up in southeastern Diyarbakir province on Oct. 20 last year.
The two centers have reached at least 700 children.
Merdanoglu says she plans to open more therapy centers in other hippodromes in the future.
Kaan and his mother have participated in the therapy from the moment the center was launched. “Some people recommended this method to me. That’s how I came here,” Kabak says.
In the beginning, Kaan was hesitant to approach a horse and reluctant to be a part of the therapy.
“After one-and-a-half months, you should have seen him how he hugs the horse,” Kabak says.
According to his mother, Kaan eventually established trust with the animal. That trust has paved the way for him to establish communication with other people. When Kabak was recalling the moment his son began to speak, the joy was apparent in her eyes.
“He began to send his pictures [while riding a horse] to his friend. Little-by-little, he started communicating,” Kabak remembers.
Psychologist Merdanoglu says horses help disabled or traumatic kids to regain their confidence.
“When a child sees that she can accomplish something and see that other people are below her, she begins to gain her confidence,” Merdanoglu stated.
Kaan – now a lively child – sometimes found himself on the ground due to mishaps in his riding. Yet these falls do not discourage him or affect his affection for horses.
“I want to a jockey,” he beams, confidently.
