Physical (gross motor skills), Occupational (fine motor skills) and Speech/Language therapists have all begun to use horseback riding as a tool in improving their patient's skills. Physically and neurologically the results across different populations of patients have been profound. Positive responses from patient's have repeatedly been recorded in not only posture and motor skills of patients, but also coordination and tone of muscles, respiration (breathing), cognition or thinking skills, sensory processing (making sense of different stimuli-everything from rhythm to smells), balance, affect (facial expression related to inner feelings), arousal (excitement/enthusiasm level) and use of speech/language skills. It is also another way to do therapy in a more natural surrounding rather than in the four-walled therapy room that is usually painted white. Patients are out in the community socializing with others. Not to mention this is FUN!!
I remember teaching (doing speech therapy) for a CDB class (class for students who are "mentally retarded"- an old icky term- or cognitively delayed) at a local small town high school and having an annual trip out to a farm to let the kids ride horses. The kids were never the same after that I can tell you. One student who never spoke began talking everyday about that trip. Socially the kids began to tell stories about their experiences to each other and to other students and staff; many had never taken turns speaking to others before let alone initiate conversations. Those who showed no previous outward expression of their feelings before beamed!! My one student with cerebal palsy who had never walked before said he now knew what it felt like to walk-he made the analogy himself.
The occupational therapists and physical therapists do this routinely with their students in my new school district. There is a local farm in Darien, Wisconsin, that hosts a program called "SMILES" that provides riding opportunities for people with different disabilities in our area. Parents and others in the community can not believe the positive changes seen in the people who use this service. I think alternative therapy approaches like this are going to be around for a long time. Check and see if there are any "Hippotherapy" services offered in your area.
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