Julia got in touch with us last year to share some brilliant photos of her son Daniel enjoying some new activities. Daniel started tennis (at one of our DSActive clubs) and horse-riding in the autumn and Julia is thrilled by his progress.
Thank you for the wonderful pictures, Julia, and for telling us more about Daniel and how he’s been getting on.
Daniel is 7 years old and lives with me (mum!), dad, an older brother and two older sisters. His brother and sisters are all much older (all 18 and over) and unfortunately, they all teach Daniel a bit too much mischief!
Daniel attends a local mainstream primary school.
Tennis
Daniel started DSActive tennis at Bromley Tennis Centre at the beginning of September. I cannot tell you how much the sessions have helped Daniel’s strength and mobility!
In this picture, Daniel is with Luke. Luke helped Daniel with floor tennis. Luke rolled the ball to Daniel and Daniel rolled the ball back using the tennis racquet.
Luke also helped Daniel hit the tennis ball into the paddling pool.
Another little exercise is where Daniel had to throw a bean bag into a target! Daniel seemed to have a much better aim when I was standing behind the target!!
These pictures are of Daniel with Jonathon, the new coach.
Jonathon has been working on lots of little exercises to help Daniel improve his motor skills and stamina. He really has been fantastic in devising exercises to help Daniel and we are really noticing the difference since he started in September!
Horse riding
Daniel started horse riding in September this year as well.
He absolutely loves it! The pony he rides each week is called Ruby and there is a fantastic bond between the pair of them.
I thought it would take Daniel about a month to even consider putting on the riding hat…but no, it was straightaway! He is very happy to put on the hat all by himself.
Daniel has to listen very carefully to lots of instructions and he has to do things like put both arms in the air or to the side or touch his boot all while Ruby is still walking! He even has to try and touch Ruby’s ears! These exercises don’t bother Daniel at all but are very scary for me to watch!
Daniel’s core muscles have really improved. Everyone who knows Daniel can see that he is walking stronger and straighter. He has really grown in confidence too. This is an activity where Daniel really doesn’t need me by his side.
Positive impact
I didn’t really expect the positive impact that both the horse riding and tennis would have on Daniel. In a relatively short amount of time we can see the positive physical and mental well-being changes, and they’re happening every week!
We’d like to say a big thank you to Julia for writing this post for us.
Find out more about DSActive on their website…and see if there’s a session near you.