Riding Horses for Therapy

By Walt Kilcullen

If you are a stroke survivor or someone who cares for a stroke survivor, you might skip this article because you cannot imagine someone who has had a stroke being able to ride a horse. You may think that your disability would make riding a horse impossible. You may think you are too disabled or too old, or that you have never ridden a horse.  But for those who have taken part, the rewards are invaluable.

Survivors all over the U.S. and Canada are enjoying the fun, the thrill, and the therapeutic benefits of riding on horse at one of the hundreds of therapeutic riding centers designed exclusively for people with disabilities. Try finding a center accredited by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). They list the locations of handicapped riding centers and you can find the location nearest you on the web at narha.org

“Try it once and you are hooked,” says Sandy Smethers, a stroke survivor who is paralyzed on her right side. She rides at Freedom Horse, a center in Long Valley, New Jersey. Elizabeth Carlson is the owner of Freedom Horse and she explains the therapeutic value of riding for a survivor like Sandy. “Riding a horse is like adding an extension to your own body.

For Sandy, whose disability affects her right side, she is able to control both sides of the horse. This allows her to ask her partner (Pepsi) to move at her pace. She tells him where she wants to go without worrying about the disability not taking her there. Therapeutic Riding does not focus on what you cannot do, it focuses on how you can do it. That’s the value, being able to do something you thought you would never be able to do.”

But let’s not lose sight of the fun of riding. Yes, it has therapeutic physical value as already stated. However, it has emotional value by helping the rider overcome fear and anxiety and increase his self esteem. It has cognitive value as the rider learns to give commands to the horse. Speech and language skills can be practiced in this fun and challenging environment. Every rider when interviewed, talks about how much fun it is to ride.

Available Programs

Although all facilities across the US and Canada do not offer all of the programs listed below, they all offer one or more. You should check with the facility nearest you to see what programs it offers.

Therapeutic Riding

Individuals with almost any cognitive, physical or emotional disability can benefit from therapeutic riding. It is supervised, recreational horseback riding designed to improve balance, coordination, stamina, and confidence. The emotional and psychological benefits are primarily the result of meeting the challenges presented by riding and achieving goals while striving to accomplish riding independently. Riding also has the benefit of human/animal bonding.

Therapeutic Vaulting

Therapeutic Vaulting is an activity whereby a group of individuals engage in a variety of gymnastic positions on the back of a horse, as well as performing movements around, on, and off the horse. The horse is specially trained and each class is typically led by a licensed therapist and a riding instructor. Benefits of therapeutic vaulting include aerobic conditioning, motor development, body awareness and coordination, increased confidence, and teamwork skills. (Information from Beverly Willard, physical therapist, at the Maryland Therapeutic Riding Center.)

This method surpasses the therapeutic riding of a horse by teaching the basic vaulting positions along with exercises determined by the needs of the individual.  Participants usually work in a group but each rider can progress at his own pace.

Hippotherapy

Hippotherapy is a treatment that uses the multi-dimensional movement of the horse to administer physical or occupational therapy. In hippotherapy the horse influences the rider rather than the rider controlling the horse. The goal is to get the rider to respond to the horse’s movement or gait. The therapist uses this treatment to improve the rider’s posture, coordination, strength, balance and equilibrium.

Specifically, hippotherapy will strengthen the muscle groups used everyday in walking, sitting, and reaching. The therapist may have the rider stand up on the stirrups, lean forward, lean backward, throw a ball at a target, and any number of additional activities all while riding the horse.  Parents of children engaging in hippotherapy also notice improved confidence and overall happiness. Specific riding skills are not taught as in therapeutic riding, but rather a foundation is established to improve neurological function and sensory processing.

Carriage Driving

Carriage Driving is available in some facilities for people with disabilities which would not allow them to ride. It offers an alternative means of enjoying the company of a horse. The disabled driver is accompanied by an able-bodied “whip” in an open carriage. The experience offers the disabled driver the feeling that he is in control as he has a set of reins along with the “whip.”

Find More Information

Check out these websites:

US Driving for the Disabled (USDFD)

www.usdfd.org

North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) http://narha.org/

Find a Center

USDFD

http://www.usdfd.org/drivingcenters.htm

NARHA

http://www.narha.org/Centers/FindCenter2.asp

So what are you waiting for? I urge you to research.