When Caroline Lurie began studying occupational therapy at American International College, she had no interest in working with children. “Anything but kids” she would say. Three months later, Caroline is completing her level II fieldwork education at Ironstone Farm with a change of heart.
“In pediatrics, there are a few children that are really scared to get on the horse,” said Lurie. “It’s a lot for them… the horses are so big and they get really nervous and to watch them suddenly blossom and be like ‘this is fun’ is great.”
Caroline Lurie helps Sophia with her hippotherapy OT session
Caroline is the first occupational therapy student to complete her level II fieldwork at Ironstone Farm. “Everything is hand-on,” Ironstone Therapy Program Manager, Kim Murphy, explained. Unlike level I fieldwork, where students only get to observe, students in level II work with the clients directly, while learning about administrative and management skills in the industry. For Caroline, that consisted of everything from office work, like insurance billing, to hands-on work with clients alongside her supervising occupational therapist, Madison Pesa.
While physical therapy focuses on the patient’s ability to move their body, occupational therapy can encompass a multitude of different things. Occupational therapy allows the therapist to work with their patients in different settings, helping with any mental or physical disabilities. OTs help them with their daily life skills, so they can get back to normal living.
Caroline’s level II fieldwork assignment at Ironstone was the final step in completing her Master’s Degree in occupational therapy. Being from California, Caroline had never heard of Ironstone, but once her fieldwork coordinator mentioned our hippotherapy program (equine-assisted PT/OT), she realized it was a perfect fit.
Caroline leads Unico down from the paddock during a veterans retreat
“I had always loved working with horses and I had run a [equine-assisted] program for at-risk kids in California during summer camp,” said Lurie. “But I wanted to do more, something to give back because I love helping people and occupational therapy really showed me that you can do that with horses.”
Her supervisor, Madison Pesa, has said that she loved her time working with Caroline and described her as a hard worker who loved to learn and work with the kids.
“She’s very sweet and passionate about her work,” said Madison. “It’s been a great experience. She’s been amazing and we’ll miss her very much.”
After her time with Ironstone, Caroline will be moving to Knoxville to reunite with her boyfriend, who is currently stationed at a nearby military base. She assisted with many of Ironstone Farm’s Veterans Experience programs outside of her time as an OT student and made a personal connection with the program. She credits Ironstone Farm for helping pave the way to her next adventure, saying that she would like to continue working in hippotherapy or with veterans in the future.
We are so thankful for all the work Caroline did over these three months. During her short time here at Ironstone, she dedicated herself to learning all that she could and helping our program be the best that it can be. We will miss her, but look forward to seeing what the future holds, and wish her the best on her next adventure!