Passage I

Therapy on Horseback

[1] Most people have heard of physical therapy, in which trained therapists help rehabilitate patients who have a physical difficulty. [2] But not many have heard of hippotherapy. [3] It's a physical therapy treatment strategy for humans that requires the aid of a horse, and it's used for physical therapy. [4] The name comes from the Greek word for horse, hippos. (3)

Hippotherapy has been used in Europe since the 1960s, and more recently in the United States, as a treatment option for people with developmental disorders and neuromuscular problems. (4) Therapists trained in hippotherapy use horses to help patients improve their physical strength and coordination as well as build patients' self-esteem and confidence.

Why a horse? The movement in a persons' pelvis when he or she rides a horse is similar to the movement created by a person walking upright. This movement is difficult to duplicate using typical physical therapy tools, such as balls and swings, since the possible motions, and functions; of those tools are relatively fixed. (7) It's easy, however, a duplication of this pelvic movement with the assistance of a walking horse. A horse-in-motion provides steady sensory input to the patient, and then the walking speed of the horse can be controlled, so can the level of sensory input. (10)

[1] Hippotherapy is not at all like recreational horseback riding. [2] If you were to visit a hippotherapy center, you would see patients in different positions.(12) [3] One purpose of these positions is to allow the patient to learn how his or her body responds as the horse walks. [4]In other words, trained spotters ensure the patient's safety. [5]Horses are also used because many people are drawn to them. [6] Patients often work with the same horse and grow to love that animal. [7] Most of the patients are children, and they enjoy brushing the horses and seeing the horse stables. [B] The experience is a lively and invigorating variation on traditional physical therapy.(15)