How to Build a Mounting Ramp for Therapeutic Riding

If you want to turn your equestrian facility into a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association-approved therapeutic riding center, you will need a mounting ramp and block designed to accommodate the maximum number of assistants and equipment you will use. Having a ramp can help increase the independence of your students.

Things You'll Need

  • Building materials
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Instructions

  1. Designing and building a mounting ramp

    • 1

      Plan the location of your ramp. The ramp should be near the riding arena, but not inside of it, and should consist of a mounting ramp and an offside barrier that's not a fence or wall. By using a mounting block or another ramp as your offside barrier, you build the ability for offside mounts into the center's setup. The offside barrier should be 28 to 36 inches away from the ramp. The ramp will be on the left side, and the barrier will be on the right. Your ramp should be constructed so that there is a ramp up to where the students will be mounted, and then a ramp down the other side where the instructor and volunteers will walk down alongside the student on the horse.

    • 2

      Consider the heights of the horses you will be using in your program, as students do use the stirrup to help get in the saddle. Some riding centers have multiple platforms at different heights for different sizes of horses and rider equipment.

    • 3

      Plan the slope so that it is easy for people get up the ramp using either a wheelchair or crutches. The American with Disabilities Act recommends a slope that rises one inch for every 16 to 20 inches. There is no railing on the slopes of the ramp on the side the horse will be walking along. A railing on the opposite side is recommended and should be 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The side closest to the horse can have a 2-inch minimum curb to keep riders from slipping off the ramp.

    • 4

      Construct the ramp using 2X4 boards as the frame and surface materials that are at least 7/8 of an inch thick.

    • 5

      Create a landing at the top of the ramp and landings at the end of the ramps going up and going down. Landings should be 60 inches long at the least, and the same width as the ramp itself.