Hippotherapy

Original Editor - Asma Alshehri

Top Contributors - Asma Alshehri, Dakota Martin, Kim Jackson, Sukhi Dhaliwal, Leana Louw, Chelsea Mclene, Carina Therese Magtibay, Katherine Chandler, Brandon Oates and George Prudden

Definition 

Hippotherapy comes from the Ancient Greek words meaning"Horse"(Hippos) and "treatment"(therapy). It is a medical treatment that utilizes evidence based practice and clinical reasoning to use purposeful movements of the horse to influence and engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to promote functional outcomes in individuals with mental and physical disabilities.

Physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists integrate Hippotherapy with with other treatment tools and strategies as part of greater treatment plan to address treatment needs of individual patients.

Practitioners

Hippotherapy requires a specialization in most countries and can be provided by the following therapists once they have achieved the necessary training and certification.

• Physiotherapists (PT)
• Occupational therapists (OT)
• Speech-language pathologists (SLP)

In North American, The American Hippotherapy Association has a licensing program to become a titled Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist (HPSC).

How does it work?

1. The movement of the horses mimics the normal movements of the human pelvis when walking. The rhythmic and repetitive and multidirectional movements provided by the horse stimulates the anterior and posterior swinging movements of the patient rider.
2. The patient is also encouraged to achieve proper balance and posture, thus improving balance and muscle control of patients. Also helping with the development of paraspinal muscles.
3. The patient rider receives a large sensory and motor input from not only the horse but from those also around the horse assisting with the session.

Hippotherapy, when used under the direction of a trained therapist can positively impact strength, muscle coordination and sensory processing used for walking and talking and the use of fine motor skills for activities of daily living and general attention to tasks.

Who can benefit from Hippotherapy

The patient population for Hippotherapy consists of children with varying mental and physical disabilities. This includes but not limited to:

• Cerebral Palsy
• Traumatic Brain Damage
• Down Syndrome
• Autism
• Behavioural Disorders
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Amputees
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Psychiatric Diseases
• Spinal Cord Diseases
• Rheumatism Joint Diseases Etc.

Differentiation between Hippotherapy and therapeutic riding

Hippotherapy	therapeutic riding
Using the movement of the horse as a treatment tool	Adapted recreational horseback riding lessons
Completed by a professional therapist in conjunction with professional horse handler and a specially screened and trained therapy horse	completed by a professional horseback riding instructor in conjunction with volunteers
There is direct hands on participation by the therapist at all time	the individual is often taught riding lessons in a group format
The horse's movement is essential to assist in meeting therapy goals	there is occasional hands on assistance by the riding instructor or volunteers
Is a one on one treatment and generally occurs year-round until the patient meets discharge criteria	here, the emphasis is on proper riding position and rein skills, not functional therapeutic goals

Advantages 

• Improvement in:
  • Muscle tone and strength
  • Gross motor skills
  • Range of motion
  • Coordination
  • Endurance

• Advances in:
  • Balance
  • Head and trunk control
  • Body awareness
  • Posture
  • Mobility

• Positive effects on:
  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Limbic system function related to arousal, motivation and attention
  • Sensorimotor function,  
  • Oral motor, voice quality and vocal accocommunication