Equitherapy
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Equitherapy (literally therapy using the horse) is physical therapy that uses unique qualities of horse back riding as a therapy tool. Through this form of therapeutic riding, people of all ages with physical or developmental disabilities can improve their physical health; improve their muscle tone and posture; increase their balance; sharpen their hand-eye coordination; improve their communication skills; and gain a sense of control and self confidence. In equitherapy, the rhythm of the horse imitates the rider’s own pelvis movement, a unique feature that cannot be duplicated in a traditional physical therapy settings. This can recreate the sensation of walking for people with paralyzing disabilities and can reduce or inhibit nervous spasms associated with other disabilities.
Equitherapy also offers people with disabilities or with psychosocial disorders the opportunity to participate in recreational activities that can have a direct effect on their confidence, emotional well-being, communication skills and muscle tone. This aspect of therapy is sometimes referred to as "equine facilitated psychotherapy" or EFP.
Riding horses has a long history as a therapeutic treatment. As early as 600 B.C., Hippocrates wrote about "riding's healing rhythm" for both mental and physical improvement. English and French physicians between A. D. 1600 and 1900 prescribed riding as a treatment for treating neurological conditions and to improved posture, balance, and joint movement. Great Britain officially recognized the benefits of equitherapy in the early 1900s, using horses to aid in the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers at Oxford Hospital during and after World War I. During the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland, Danish rider Lis Hartel, stricken by polio and unable to walk, won a silver medal in Grand Prix Dressage. The publicity from her achievement sparked a movement to create therapeutic riding centers across Europe and in the United States. The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) [1] was established in the U.S. in 1952.
