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Although I lived in Dallas-Ft. Worth for several years, there is always more to see. I spent the day touring around Ft. Worth as part of the IFAJ conference and visited the Rocky Top Therapy Center (www.rockytoptherapy.org) located in Keller, Texas, the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth and Superior Livestock Auction, located in the historic Stockyards.

Although the entire day was enjoyable, I was really fascinated with the Rocky Top Therapy Center which uses animals, and specifically equine therapy to help more than 250 emotionally, mentally and physically challenged individuals each week. They use more than 53 horses and 250 volunteers who donated more than 180,000 hours of their time to help these children last year.

We were given a special equine therapy demonstration by several amazing children who all began the program in wheelchairs and now each one of these kids can walk. You can see a video of the therapy here.

Also featured at the ranch is a playground featuring the largest treehouse in the country. For the first time ever, both children and adults have been able to experience the pleasure of sliding down a topsy-turvy slide.

It was a great experience and you can learn more about Rocky Top Therapy Center at www.rockytoptherapy.com. In case you’re interested in donating time or money, they have a fundraiser coming up in October and you can get more information on their website.

To see more photos from the ranch as well as rest of my tour, check out our IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album.