Hippotherapy

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What is Hippotherapy?

Hippotherapy comes from the Greek words "hippo" meaning horse and "therapy" meaning treatment so Hippotherapy means treatment with the aid of a horse. 

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*HIPPOTHERAPY IS NOT A SEPARATE SERVICE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS HIPPOTHERAPY SERVICES OR EQUINE THERAPY. HIPPOTHERAPY IS INCORPORATED INTO THE TREATMENT AS A TOOL OR STRATEGY. *

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Hippotherapy is...
- a treatment method with positive effects on many systems in the body including the sensory, musculoskeletal, limbic, vestibular, and ocular systems 

- Utilizes the natural movement of a horse to provide motor and sensory input and engages the sensory, neuromotor, and cognitive systems of patients with physical and mental disorders in order to improve fuctional outcomes.

- used to treat patients with autism, cerebral palsy, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, head injuries, stroke, spinal cord injuries, behavior disorders and psychiatric disorders.

- increase motivation, engagement, and participation in treatments

- helps with speech therapy in areas of speech, language, social communication, cognition and feeding/swallowing issues by providing graded and rhythmic input into the pts body to support the systems impacted by these 5 main areas of treatment

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How Hippotherapy works.
As a horse walks the movements provide 100 rhythmic impulses per minute into the rider. This forces the patient to keep an upright posture and stay balanced on the horse by repetitively challenging the patients postural reactions. Therefore balance, muscle control, and strengthening of the spinal muscles are improved.
It has been demonstrated that Hippotherapy has a positive impact on a patients muscle tone, strength, sensory processing used for mobility, talking, FM skills for completing activities of daily living tasks and increase attention and focus to tasks. 

EXAMPLES:
Some children with Cerebral Palsy demonstrated an increase in head and trunk control, motor control, and stability with functional reach. 
Children with Autism and developmental delays demonstrated an increase with motor function, balance, strength and postural control, along with increased confidence and self esteem. 
Children with increased arousal levels such as ADHD demonstrated an increase in calming their bodies after being on the horse with an increase in FM and GM skills and speech. 

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What is the difference between Hippotherapy and therapeutic riding?
Therapeutic horseback riding are riding lessons for special needs children taught by riding instructors. They teach specific riding skills , they do not provide habilitation or rehabilitation. 
Hippotherapy is a form of treatment using purposeful and manipulated horse movements and gait patterns as a plan of care for the treatment goals. This is performed by a certified OT, COTA, PT, PTA, or SLP for children with Autism, arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, head injuries, stroke, spinal cord injuries, behavior disorders or psychiatric disorders. 

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Patients that may benefit from Hippotherapy...
               - Cerebral Palsy              

 - TBI
                      - Down Syndrome                    

- Autism 
                - Behavioral Disorder              

 - Muscular Dystrophy
                       - Amputees                      

 - CVA
                      - Multiple Sclerosis                  

    - Psychiatric Disease 
                - Spinal Cord Injuries              

   - Rheumatism Joint Disease 
    - Developmental Dyspraxia and Delay

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Benefits of Hippotherapy...
INCREASES...
                 - gait training               

 - balance
                   - postural control                   

 - strengthening
                            - ROM                          

       - Normalization of muscle tone
                       - proprioception                   

    - vestibular input
                   - eye hand coordination               

    - crossing midline 
                     - encouragement                   

 - UE muscle tone
                       - endurance                       

  - coordination 
                         - symmetry                         

- body awareness
             - head and trunk control               

 - posture 
                      - mobility                       

  - sensorimotor function
                   -oral motor ability                   

 - voice quality
              - vocal communication               

 - coping skills
                   - self-esteem                   

 - confidence 
                     - motivation                       

 - attention span and focus 
                   - talking                     

 - speech

Hippotherapy is not for everyone.

Many factors are considered to determine whether

Hippotherapy is right for your child such as...
             - patient allergies                

 - patient behaviors 
               - medical conditions               

 - uncontrolled seizures 
                 - unstable joints                  

 - recent surgeries 
                 - skin conditions                

  - size of patient 
- sensory sensitivity
  - painful conditions aggravated by movement

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Sometimes kids can be intimidated by the horse. The child is slowly introduced to the horse by doing activities around the horse. The children usually adapt and do well once on the horse and feeling the rhythmic movements. On occasions there are times when the equine movements create fear or anxiety for the child and if that is the case hippotherapy may not be the right tool for that child and hippotherapy is discontinued.