I am an occupational therapist, so I hope to have a lot of information and resources in this area!
Occupational Therapy using equine movement as a treatment strategy is designed for individuals who wish to improve motor control, coordination, balance, attention and social skills, sensory processing and performance in daily tasks. Since the focus of occupational therapy is the use of activity; the horse provides an optimal platform for healing. Children and adults are drawn to interact with the horse. The movement of the horse provides a natural challenge for the clients’ balance and posture. Over time, this movement helps the nervous system through entrainment to respond to activity requests, thus improving rhythmic acts such as walking, reaching and social interaction. Additional positive effects from the movement of the horse can also be seen in muscle strength, midline orientation, body awareness, stiffness/flexibility and postural alignment. Other effects on body systems can and do occur as well. Changes are often seen in the respiratory, cognitive, sensory processing, emotional, arousal and speech/language production functions. The equine assisted therapy setting provides a variety of sensory experience as well. The barn is full of a variety of new sights, smells and sounds. Hippotherapy treatment, along with the unconventional setting of a barn, becomes excellent environment for clients to improve their responses to novel sensations. The barn is a natural setting and often the challenges associated with being in a non-clinical setting create additional opportunities to make treatment beneficial for the client’s social participation and community integration. Equine assisted therapy is a prime example of how customized treatment, comprehensive evaluations, non-clinical environments, adaptive equipment and guided family/caregiver training can provide optimal results.
Finally, the role of the occupational therapist can be extended outside the hippotherapy treatment context. Occupational therapists can assist in evaluation of people wishing to participate in equine assisted activities, work with groups to promote social skills along with work readiness, health and wellness. We also have expertise in consultation with other professionals and can recommend changes in the environment, adapted equipment and altered teaching strategies to ensure participant success. The occupational therapist has a natural role in using equine assisted therapy to meet a variety of functional goals for people of all ages.