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What Is Hippotherapy?

The word Hippotherapy comes from the Greek word "hippo" meaning horse. Basically, it is therapy using the horse as a tool.

What is the difference between therapeutic riding and Hippotherapy?

Therapeutic riding is about horsemanship. We teach everything about horsemanship - from grooming and care of the horse to actual riding. Except
for the yearly physician's release and input from each rider's individual medical profile, no medical personnel are directly involved in the
instruction. The therapy itself is in the form of education and taught by the certified riding instructor who has responsibility for all aspects of
the classes. Increased hand-eye coordination, muscle memory, muscle tone, core development and life skills come as a benefit of this instruction.

In Hippotherapy a medical professional (physical therapist, occupation therapist, speech therapist, etc.) is directly involved and in control of
each and every class. A certified riding instructor is involved as well, but is only responsible for maintaining safety and controlling the horse's
movement, position and gait. In Hippotherapy, the horse influences the client rather than the client controlling the horse. The therapist directs
the movement of the horse, analyzes the client's responses, and adjusts the treatment accordingly. These medical professionals receive special training in order to evaluate each potential patient on an individual basis to determine the appropriateness of including Hippotherapy as an added form of treatment.

In the area of emotional counseling; since the vast majority of these clients do not ride, Shadow Ranch will set up two-man teams. One will be the
certified riding instructor (again in charge of horse safety) and the other will be the certified counseling professional. Both of whom will abide by
the confidentiality standards already set forth in the counseling industry. This therapy will utilize Human Animal Interaction (HAI) as its core.
 

Physical Therapist
The physical therapist can overlay a variety of motor tasks on the horse's movement to address the motor needs of each patient and to promote
functional outcomes in skill areas related to gross motor ability such as sitting, standing and walking.

Occupational Therapist:
The occupational therapist is able to combine the effects of the equine movement with other standard intervention strategies for working on fine
motor control, sensory integration, feeding skills, attentional skills and functional daily living skills in a progressively challenging manner.

Speech-Language Pathologist:
The speech-language pathologist is able to use equine movement to facilitate the physiologic systems that support speech and language. When combined with other standard speech-language intervention strategies, the speech-language pathologist is able to generate effective remediation of
communication disorders and promote functional communication outcomes.

Specially trained therapy professionals evaluate each potential client on an individual basis to determine the appropriateness of including Hippotherapy as a treatment strategy. The therapy professional works closely with the horse professional to manipulate various aspects of the horse's movement, position, management style, equipment and types of activities to generate effective remediation protocols and to promote functional outcomes.

For More Information

Or to become involved, please contact us at volunteers@shadowranchtx.com 

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