Hippotherapy Blog-
for therapists, instructors, families, riders and
others interested in promoting skills
using the horse as a
treatment tool. Share your stories and expertise.
Telleman
Klagen
Fritz
Kaiser
Emma
What
is vaulting? Vaulting is exercises or gymnastics
performed on the back of a
moving horse. Someone other than the rider is controlling the horse.
Do therapists use vaulting
activities in hippotherapy?
Yes.
Vaulting is commonly performed
during both therapeutic riding instruction and hippotherapy treatment.
It is suitable for riders with mild physical disabilities, sensory
processing and motor control deficits, attention deficit disorders,
autism and young
children with developmental delays.
Therapists
do not focus primarily on
teaching vaulting. They aim to improve coordination, sensory
processing, sequencing and motor planning skills.
Children may maintain
positions on hands and knees (quadruped), kneeling, flag (one leg is
stretched and lifted and the opposite arm is lifted forward) and
standing. Children are asked to hold arms out like an airplane (in
"tree" or "riding seat"
position). More advanced riders might hold positions while
trotting.
This
rider is very proud of his
abilities. Vaulting may also improve self-esteem, social and
communication skills.
Learn
about how occupational therapists use the horse as an art
medium-as well as therapeutic tool at a special needs camp. Advance
for OT
Children
used water-based, nontoxic, tempera finger paint mixed with horse
shampoo. According to Terrie King, LOT, Panola College OTA program
faculty member- "We care for our horses very much at camp and consider
them a co-therapist deserving of all the rights of any living
being." In fact, "King added, "the horses actually seem to enjoy
being painted.
"Hippotherapy"
refers to a medical
treatment strategy
using the
movement
of the horse to promote neuro-
physiological change.
Occupational,
physical and speech therapists use
the horse as a treatment tool to improve
posture, strength, balance, equilibrium
reactions, coordination and communication. It is not a
method to teach
riding.
The term "therapeutic riding" encompasses
all aspects of using the horse
with individuals
who have physical and/or
mental disabilities.
This term is all-inclusive and may
involve
activities on or off the horse. The individual is taught
not only specific riding skills,
but also skills performed off
the horse such as grooming
and tacking.
All
"equine-assisted"
therapies involve a
relationship between rider and
horse. Horses
give unconditional acceptance and riders
learn how to express their appreciation, as seen in this photograph
of a
girl kissing her horse at the end of a
hippotherapy
session.Occupational therapists may do
both hippotherapy
on the horse and therapeutic activities
such as following directions
to put on a helmet and
gait
belt before riding.
Is
treatment different when the
therapist is
an occupational, physical or speech
therapist? Yes
Physical
and
occupational therapists use the
horse to achieve biomechanical
goals such
as increasing trunk control,normalizing
muscle
tone, independent sitting, improving
balance,
posture, equilibrium reactions
(to not fall over
when the center of gravity changes) and coordination. Occupational
therapists have traditionally focused on using
fine-motor activities such as
placing rings on a stack to
develop eye-hand
coordination. Since this child
above cannot hold onto the handle
for
support while
engaged in a fine-motor activity, he must use his
trunk
muscles to maintain his posture and balance.
These skills are necessary in order to
perform meaningful and purposeful
activities such as sitting at a table to
color or reaching for juice in the refrigerator.
Occupational therapists also address goals
related to sensory processing. The horse
provides strong tactile (touch), vestibular
(movement) and proprioceptive (deep
pressure to joints and muscles) stimulation
that organizes the child's sensory system.
The
therapist above is
helping the child tolerate the horse's
different movements, strengthen her trunk muscles by sitting
upright while going up and down hills and turning corners.
The therapist promotes balance reactions as
the child shifts
weight to reach for a flower. Occupational
therapists also use hand
activities such as attaching clothespins
to the mane to strengthen hands and
develop dexterity.
Occupational and speech therapists often have
objectives
related to following directions and communicating with either
gestures, verbalization, signs, pointing to pictures or a
combination. The hippotherapy situation often motivates
the child to communicate "go" and "whoa" and choose
which direction to ride the horse. The above pictures can
be used by a child to communicate that she wants to go
left to see the riding ring or go right to see the horses eat.
Children can also communicate these choices by
approximating the word sounds (i.e. "ee" meaning "I want
to see the horses eating"), pulling on the reins, pointing or
looking in the chosen direction.
Children can make a choice by pointing to
a
picture of a
desired activity or be asked to follow directions to
remove a specific picture
before performing the task.
Occupational therapists use activities to help the child
improve
attention to tasks and cognitive awareness.
Activities to work on these skills
include:
Looking at a
picture of flowers and then
finding them on the trail
Counting to
ten
with arms held high
Imitating a
movement such as touching
the head.
Remembering
an
exercise sequence such as
"make arm circles, touch the mane and touch
the tail."
How does the movement of the
horse
help the
therapist achieve therapeutic goals?
The
multi-dimensional movement of the
horse produces pelvis and spinal
movement in the rider that is similar to
the movement required in human gait.
The
pelvis moves forward and backward,
side to side and in rotation.These movements not only allow
non-ambulatory children to experience sensations similar
to walking but also helps children to develop the balance,
postural control and sensory integration that typical children
develop through everyday play and other movement activities.
What is
Muscle Tone?
Muscle tone
refers to the amount of
resistance to passive
stretch or movement. Muscles may have low tone and
move very easily or high tone which is less easy to stretch.
How does hippotherapy affect muscle tone?
Horse
movements that are rhythmic,
smooth and regular
relax muscles much the way a cradle rocks a baby to sleep.
These movements may also be preferred by children who
are easily overstimulated.
Horse movements that are jerky, of irregular
speed and
involve frequent "stop and go" movements increase
muscle tone and raise the child's arousal level much the
way jumping on trampoline or bouncing on a Hippity Hop
ball does.
Why do therapists place the child
in different
positions such as side-sitting, facing backwards
or lying down?
Different position vary the
sensory
input,
hip range of motion, pelvic tilt and muscles
being strengthened. Facing forwards allows
use of stirrups for stability. Facing backwards
provides a bigger stretch to the legs. Facing
backwards also provides a large
surface for upper extremity weight
bearing or an activity such as a
puzzle.
Side-sitting facilitates
side to
side
weight shifts and increases balance challenges.
Positioning
the
child prone (on the belly) over the horse's barrel
relaxes spastic muscles and provides strong sensory input. Prone (on
the
belly) facing the
horses rump
provides tactile, joint and muscle stimulation
to the forearms and hands and strengthens
neck muscles.
Some children can perform push-ups to strengthen trunk
and upper extremities.
The supine position (on the back) with head on
rump also
provides total weight -bearing to the body, facilitates
equilibrium responses,
elongates the rib cage and provides
strong sensory stimulation. Some children can
perform
sit-ups in this position, strengthening belly muscles.
Telleman
Klagen
Fritz
Kaiser
Emma
Yes.
Vaulting is commonly performed
during both therapeutic riding instruction and hippotherapy treatment.
It is suitable for riders with mild physical disabilities, sensory
processing and motor control deficits, attention deficit disorders,
autism and young
children with developmental delays.
Therapists
do not focus primarily on
teaching vaulting. They aim to improve coordination, sensory
processing, sequencing and motor planning skills. 
This
rider is very proud of his
abilities. Vaulting may also improve self-esteem, social and
communication skills. 
Counting to
ten
with arms held high
Side-sitting 
Prone (on
the
belly) facing the
horses rump
