Horses Help Heal
Horseback riding can be a lot of fun. Did you know it can also be good for you? Riding a horse with the help of a therapist can help people heal.
Riding activities and therapies, or treatments, help thousands of people every year. The name for therapy with a horse and a therapist is hippotherapy.
The word “hippo” comes from the Greek word for horse, “hippos.” (The word “hippopotamus” comes from the same language. It means “river horse.”) In hippotherapy, a physical, occupational or speech therapist uses the horse’s movement to help the patient get better.
Horse help
Hippotherapy helps people with special needs do things such as sitting up, walking, and even talking. It can make them strong enough to do tasks such as dressing themselves.
Horse therapy also helps people with mental and emotional problems. This type of therapy has been used with soldiers returning from war zones to help with posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Horse therapy mechanics
The walking movement of a horse is almost the same as the walking movement of a human. At first, it seems weird to think that a four-legged animal would walk the same way as a two-legged human.
However, experts realized that when horses and humans walk, their hips:
• move up and down;
• tilt from side to side;
• turn, or rotate.
If you put your hand on your hip while you’re walking, you can feel your hip moving from side to side.
When people ride a horse, their hips move as if they were walking on their own. The riders gain muscle strength. Their brains receive signals just as if they were doing the walking themselves.
While on the horse, the person has to work to stay on. The rider’s muscles go to work, and the rider gains strength. Many patients who could not sit up without slumping over can sit up straight after riding.