SINKHOLE

e city is working with a water infrastructure group called C&L Water Solutions to repair the roadway.

Because the city was already planning to replace the culverts with larger, reinforced concrete pipes as part of the Jackass Gulch Master Plan and the Mineral Mobility Improvements project in 2024, they decided to move forward with permanent replacements instead of temporary solutions.

“We could have gone the route of just, you know, putting … a temporary repair in there and then we would have had a detour placed again next summer,” Reester said. “We made a determination that wasn’t the best choice, so that’s why we’re going to really hit it hard right now to resolve the problem.”

Reester said the city started putting extra attention toward asset management some years ago to assess where the city’s structures are vulnerable and where the highest risks are so they can tackle those issues. Part of this plan included strengthening and increasing the size of the pipes under Jackass Hill Road to make them better equipped to deal with a major stormwater event.

Seizing the sinkhole as an opportu-

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More SSPRD problems tions about how to check to see if my application was successful. I know that I wasn’t alone in having trouble working through their application process.

I want to thank the Littleton Independent for their thoughtful coverage of the appointment of Keith Gardner to the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District Board.

Sonya

Pennock Housing and Homelessness Committee chair League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties Centennial nity to be e cient, C&L Water Solutions will replace the tunnels with two 66-inch-diameter concrete culverts. e replacement will begin the week of June 19. e estimated timeline for the repair project is unknown, according to the press release, but it is likely to take “many weeks.” ere is a pedestrian and bicycle detour route along the Railroad Spur Trail to the west of Jackass Hill Road and through the streets in the Palisade neighborhood, the press release says. Workers will also install a chain link fence to enhance the safety of the immediate area. ere will be full closures of Jackass Hill Road at Mineral Avenue and at Curtis Court/Jamison Way for several weeks, the city announced. e city asks motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area as the situation is evolving and the sinkhole may continue to grow and remain unstable.

“We were fortunate that C&L was able to locate some of those pipes because normally they take about two to three months at a minimum for fabrication,” Reester said.

Reester said the city is still working with C&L to gure out the total costs of the project.

In addition to the sinkhole on Jackass Hill Road, Reester said there is a sinkhole in a natural area in Littleton that

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While your capable reporter covered many of the important issues, one issue that wasn’t covered was the fact that I tried to apply for the vacancy and the SSPRD system didn’t accept my application. ey received my letter of recommendation but not my application. I didn’t receive any indication that it had not been received nor were there instruc- requires a pipe replacement, but it is not an area that will impact the public. e city is not concerned about more sinkholes occurring, Reester said.

“Just like in any rainstorm, we know the areas where it’s most likely to get excessive ponding or something be-

I encourage any of your readers who had a similar experience to speak up. e entire application process re ects the paucity of transparency in the important work of the SSPRD Board. ank you again for your attention to the issues plaguing the SSPRD Board. I wish Mr. Gardner good luck and Godspeed in addressing them.

Amy S. Conklin Littleton

cause of the stormwater infrastructure,” he said. “As we’ve had this unusual amount of moisture, our team has taken the steps to check in on those places that we know probably have the highest vulnerability so that we can make sure that that’s not out there.”

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When people think of horses, they might associate them with ranch living, horse racing or recreational riding, but horses can be therapeutic, too. erapy takes many forms, from physical to mental. Some people travel to a ranch to work with horses as part of the therapeutic process.

Equine-assisted therapy was something Arvada native Kelsey Petitt discovered while studying occupational therapy at Pima Medical Institute in Denver. Having grown up riding horses, it immediately caught her attention.

“I just, kind of, was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing ever. I can combine my true passion of horses and really being able to help and assist participants and patients with doing therapy and reaching their functional goals while also having fun with horses and having that relationship,’” Petitt said.

Although she knew immediately that equine-assisted therapy was something she wanted to pursue, she did not do so immediately. Following her schooling and clinical internships, she quickly began working and then had her daughter.

However, in 2021 Petitt, who now lives in Brighton, decided to establish the Brighton-based Prestige erapeutic Equestrian Center, o ering an occupational therapy program that brings the four-legged companions into the practice.

“Now, I’m going on 11 years of being a therapist and so it’s taken me a little bit of time to get back to, really, what I wanted to do,” said Petitt, who also works as an occupational therapy assistant for a company called erapeutic and Rehabilitative Associates. Her purpose, like many other therapists incorporating horses into their practice, is clear: “Transforming lives through the therapeutic power of horses.”

Bringing horses into occupational therapy

Occupational therapists help people develop skills so that they can perform day-to-day tasks such as bathing, dressing and eating, as well as techniques to aid in memory and concentration, according to the American Occupational erapy Association.

For example, occupational therapists may work on a person’s ne motor skills, such as being able to button a jacket or holding a fork, Petitt said.

ey also work on sensory integration, which she said usually comes up when working with someone who is on the autism spectrum.

Another example of work they do is helping someone with their feeding skills, such as for patients with Parkinson’s disease who experience a lot of tremors. Improving core strength may also be a focus for patients, such as for someone who struggles to put their shirt on due to a lack of strength.

“ ere’s an array of di erent settings that you can get into in the occupational therapy eld, but I think for me, the equine-assisted movement is just something that I’ve always loved,” she said. “Horses are just so therapeutic in general, for anybody.” e term “hippotherapy” refers to how occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology professionals use equine movement as a therapy tool, according to the American Hippotherapy Association.

To use hippotherapy in treatment, a person must be a licensed therapist who has completed continuing education in the inclusion of horses and equine movement, per the association.

Petitt has gotten her rst level of training with the association, and she plans to continue with her training this fall.

However, Petitt explained that she does not refer to herself as a hippotherapist because hippotherapy is not its own therapy.

“We’re not hippotherapists,” she said. “Hippotherapy is utilizing the horse. All of our treatments are either occupational therapy, speech therapy or physical therapy, and we’re just using the horse as a treatment tool, basically.” ere are di erent planes for the horse in the way that their pelvis moves — the sagittal plane, frontal plane and transverse plane, she said.

With her clients, she said she is working on all of the same therapy interventions that she would be in a therapy gym or in an outpatient program, but instead she’s now doing it by having her clients get onto a horse and incorporating the horse’s movement into the treatment.

“We work o the horse’s pelvis, so their pelvis is very similar to ours,” she said.

“We’re working on that constantly, so when we have our riders on the horse, they’re also working on that. And it’s one of the most multi-dimensional movement(s) that’s rhythmic and repetitive,” she said.

For someone experiencing conditions such as limited mobility, limited core strength, cognitive delays, or sensory processing disorders, “it can really just kind of help bene t and improve all of those elements,” she said of equine-assisted therapy.

According to a study published in the international journal, Physiotherapy eory and Practice, there are “signicant positive e ects” of equine-assisted therapy on exercise tolerance, mobility, interpersonal interactions and quality of life of people with disabilities.

Another study focused on the ef- fects of equine-assisted activities and therapies for individuals on the autism spectrum and concluded that these programs “substantially improve” the social and behavioral functions of people who are on the autism spectrum.

“Communication is pretty key, too … because horses mirror us, so a lot of our participants can learn a lot more speech and communication successfully with the horses, which is really great,” she said.

Petitt has three horses she works with. e horse a client is paired with is dependent on their individual needs, she explained.

“Part of what’s so cool is because we can kind of tailor it to that participant, that patient, and kind of really work on what we need to work on with them,” she said. “ eir postural control, sensory systems, motor planning.”

In a typical therapy gym for occupational therapy, Petitt said there are tools such as a swing, a ball and a mat to use for the session. However, these do not provide the same level of sensory input and rhythmic, consistent movement that equine-assisted therapy can, which she said is great at building overall strength, control and balance.

“We can work in the therapy gym all day but the bene ts and the outcomes that we’re seeing while doing therapy