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My daughter, Sally Cochran, owns and operate the
Equine Kingdom Riding Academy on their
farm in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sally is currently a Level 2 ARIA (American
Riding Instructor's Association) instructor certified in Recreational Riding and
Hunt Seat on the Flat, a member of AQHA, NCHJA, and PATH Int'l. She became a PATH
(Professional
Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) certified instructor in November 2012.
In order to fully implement a therapeutic riding program at Equine Kingdom, it was
necessary to install a mounting platform and access ramp that can be used to assist
people in wheelchairs and with other disabilities in mounting and dismounting horses.
Commercially made platforms/ramps start at around $5,000, which is far too expensive
for an operation like Equine Kingdom. So, I researched some of the government's
handicap access requirements and designed the mounting platform and ramp shown below.
As you might expect, there are no shortage of regulations. Ramp angle, safety rail
height, and spacing between rails should be acceptable to any inspector's measurements,
but if you decide to use my plans, I make no guarantee, warranty, or even suggestion
that they comply with any regulations. It is up to you to determine fitness for
your application.
This is a photo of the completed wooden therapeutic horse riding mounting platform
and ramp built at Equine Kingdom Riding Academy . A high-resolution PDF
Therapeutic horse riding
mounting platform & ramp file is available at no charge (see below),
compliments of Equine Kingdom Riding Academy and the Airplanes and Rockets website.
The plans are drawn for use on level ground. Sally's land slopes down a little bit
from right to left, so we were able to shorten the ramp length by about six feet
and still retain the designed angle. If you find these plans useful (they took many
hours to draw), please send a note of thanks to Equine Kingdom.
Note received from Mr. Wayne Jackson (January
2015)
"Kirt, Here is your ramp slightly modified. We made the deck height 33"
vice 29", widened it by six inches, omitted some of the hand rails, added offside
steps, and reversed it so that the student mount the horse from the left side. It
was easy to build and your plans are amazing. Thank you so much. Yours
in Service, Wayne T. Jackson, Ride Above
Disability Therapeutic Riding Center 501(c)(3), Executive Director
858-349-1692,
wayne@radtrc.org
Click here for high-resolution
Therapeutic Horse Riding
Mounting Platform & Ramp PDF file.
Note: I do not have a detailed parts list.
Posted January 17, 2023
(updated from original
post on 4/15/2013)
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