Rehab

Horseback riding benefits disabled children

Rehab Regs, August 12, 2004

Therapeutic horseback riding, also known as hippotherapy, is what happens when PTs, OTs, and speech-language pathologists take patients out of the treatment room and into the ring, according to The Seattle Times. The goal is to improve balance, posture, motor skills, concentration and speech in patients with conditions such as cerebral palsy, Sensory Integrative Dysfunction and developmental delays. Hippotherapy patients typically use a pad rather than a saddle so they can feel the horse's movements. Some patients, after showing significant improvement in physical and mental abilities, graduate to more advanced therapeutic riding, where they use a saddle and learn to control the horse.

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