Helping Hooves

Whenever I mention the fact that The Princess participates in hippotherapy once a week, at least one person looks at me as though I have an arm growing out of my forehead.  This thought occurred to me when I was assigned to write an evaluation essay on a topic of my choice for my English class this past spring.

The instructor loved it, and she commended me on choosing an unusual topic.  Since she reads these things day in and day out, it seems to mean a lot to her when a student decides to evaluate something other than a car or an electronic device.

So...here's my A paper about hippotherapy.  I know that quite a few of you who read this blog are also mommas to special needs kiddos, so for many of you this will be nothing new.  But for my friends and family, and anyone else who winds up here, who may not understand unless they're one of the few who've accompanied us, I hope this will be helpful.

Hippotherapy is the integration of horses into other therapies in order to increase the effectiveness of these treatments. Not to be confused with therapeutic riding, this method does not involve the teaching of riding skills. Rather, hippotherapy involves a set amount of time with the patient lying across a horse’s back on his or her stomach, often used in conjunction with occupational, physical, or speech therapies. Riding in this position provides the most bodily contact, encouraging the greatest possible sensory input for the patient. This approach has been found to be very effective with patients who struggle with sensory integration problems, including many individuals who have been diagnosed as autistic. Being the mother of an autistic child, I decided to see for myself if what they say – that the horse’s movement helps patients to calm down, improves patients’ motor control, and has a positive effect on patients’ overall demeanor – was true.


Interestingly, the gentle swaying motion of the horse as it walks around the arena can be calming and organizing for many patients. My daughter, for example, is more relaxed when she is on her therapy horse’s back than in any other setting. Regardless of her prior mood, The Princess calms down drastically the moment she lies across Bear’s back. I have witnessed situations in which she has progressed from a near-meltdown state upon entering the arena to the most calm and serene little girl within less than five minutes. Bear’s movements have a staggering effect on my daughter, the likes of which I have never seen before. Despite the fact that The Princess is positively influenced in this way by Bear’s movements, the same is not true for every patient. Some people are afraid of horses, which can severely hinder their ability to relax enough to take advantage of the soothing qualities. Others can be lulled to sleep by the horse’s movement due to overstimulation of the vestibular system. For these patients, dismounting and changing to a different task such as speech therapy can be too jarring for them to handle upon waking. Very often, these patients are unable to transition successfully to the next part of their therapies.

Some patients find their hippotherapy time to be helpful in the organization of their thoughts and movements. The Princess's motor skills, for example, are strikingly more organized after spending thirty minutes on Bear than they are in a normal setting. She typically walks in fits and starts, alternating between a walking and running, rarely displaying a specific destination. Upon dismounting, The Princess purposefully places one foot in front of the other in an organized plan, moving from one place to another and giving the impression that this was her intention all along. In this way she seems like a different person, able to compose herself before plunging into a task. On the other hand, some patients seem to have a more difficult time adjusting to a world in which they are in control of their own movements. These patients often resemble sailors coming to port for the first time in a long while, swaying and struggling to control their movements. Unfortunately, those patients who fall asleep on the horses often awaken in a confused and agitated state, and can be unable to control their movements upon waking.

Incredibly, the time spent atop a therapy horse can heighten some patients’ ability to focus. The Princess, for instance, is far more capable of performing complicated tasks after riding on Bear. She has displayed a boundless attention span during her speech therapy sessions that immediately follow her time with Bear. During her half-hour sessions with Miss Cindy, she has shown the ability to attend to a task for a greater amount of time than she ever has before. This is not to say that she does not have a good attention span; she is just fine if the activity in question was her idea. Yet, her attention tends to wane quickly if she has not come up with the idea on her own. Just recently, The Princess participated in a sorting game with Miss Cindy for a full ten minutes. When Miss Cindy was sure she would have lost interest, The Princess adapted the game and continued it until her session came to an end. Other patients, however, are not as lucky as The Princess. Some people do not experience the same beneficial effects, finding themselves unable to focus even after spending time atop their therapy horses. Those patients who have a tendency to fall asleep on the horses often have a difficult time waking up and applying themselves to the next task in their therapies.

While hippotherapy does not work for everyone, it has proven to be an extremely effective tool in helping my daughter to cope with her autism and sensory integration challenges. She is displaying a calmer, more organized demeanor on a daily basis. Her movements are far more organized since starting therapy with Bear, and her ability to focus has increased astonishingly. These effects are helping her in many areas of her life, including those she is working on with her other therapists. As we pulled up to the stable for The Princess's third visit, she said, “Bear.” I turned around and gaped at her, thinking I must have imagined it. “What did you say, baby?” “Bear.” My daughter, who does not speak, purposefully said her horse’s name twice. Even without any other evidence of positive effects, this would be reason enough to continue The Princess's journey into the world of hippotherapy.