Equestrian Therapy: using horses for rehabilitation

Here's a little article I wrote for children after my wonderful experience with equestrian therapy.

Horses Providing Therapy to help People who have Disabilities
By Debra L. Karplus, MS, OTR/L

Horses are beautiful animals, strong and sleek. You may have noticed them on a farm. Perhaps you’ve watched horses racing at the county fair or on television. Or possibly you have been horse back riding, either Western or English style, at summer camp or with your family. These two styles of riding use different equipment. Western involves a saddle and is the style of riding seen in the old cowboy movies. English riding originated in Europe.
If you look at old pictures from the days before cars, you can see horses pulling carts to transport people and goods, such as food. Horses are good work animals. But you may not know that horses can be specially trained to help people who have disabilities.
Equestrian therapy differs from horse back riding.
Equestrian or equine therapy, also called therapeutic riding, is a technique that is becoming more popular in helping people of all ages, especially children, who have physical and mental disabilities, to improve their daily functioning. The term equine means relating to horses, just as canine refers to dogs, feline means cats, and bovine refers to cows. Horse-assisted therapy is different from the horse back riding that you may be familiar with in that it does not involve speed or competition and a specially trained person, who is experienced both with horses and with people with disabilities, supervises, by walking alongside the horse and its rider as they trot.
Horses have many qualities that make them a natural for helping disabilities people. Their gait, or walk, is similar to that of a person even though they have two sets of legs. They also tend to be sensitive to people’s feelings.
Horse therapy helps improve many skills.
Whether a person has cerebral palsy which is a disability acquired at birth, or has some sort of injury or paralysis, getting on a horse can improve many skills, such as overall balance, body coordination, muscle tone, and flexibility. It also helps dispel fear and aids in gaining confidence. Grooming the horse has additional benefits.
Most breeds of horses can be trained to be used therapeutically.
Most horses that are calm and patient are trainable for to be used for therapy. Stallions which are adult male horses and competition or race horses tend to be more aggressive; they are not good therapy animals. Therapy horses must not kick, buck or make jerky movements, or bite. They must be good with children and also be able to carry out commands with verbal cues and not by touch.
You can learn more about therapeutic riding.
The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) is a national organization that has much information about therapeutic riding. If you want to learn more about how horses are trained for therapy or where you can locate therapy horse farms or ranches, their website, www.narha.org, can be helpful. Or visit a therapeutic riding ranch near home or while on vacation. Perhaps someday, you may become a horse trainer for disabled people.