Essay On Hippotherapy

Hippotherapy has been used as far back as the time of the Greeks. Hippocrates did a great deal of studying on this type of therapy process. Hippotherapy is a type of therapy that involves horses and people working together. The children will brush, tack, and ride their horse. Riding the horse allows the child to use their core more; therefore, improving their balance, and even motor functions. Through the years, hippotherapy has evolved and broken off into four separate types. There is: valuing, riding therapy, hippotherapy, and rehabilitation riding. Another researcher then narrowed it down to two types: classic and modern.
Granados and Agís (2011) proves that classic hippotherapy has been practiced since the 1600’s. It involves a rider, a therapist, and a horse or donkey. The treatment relies on the horse’s movements and how the child responds to the movements. The child can be in many positions on the horse. They may be sitting forward or backwards, or lying prone or supine. The whole point of this therapy is to get the child to practice basic motor skills and strengthen them. It …show more content…
This therapy helps to, “...achieve physical, psychological, cognitive, social behavior, and educational goals” (Granados and Agís, 2011). The children will learn basic communication skills by telling their horse to walk on, stop, and back up. Their social skills will be heightened by riding with others and engaging in conversation with the therapist and other workers. Overall, modern therapy is not used just to teach the child how to ride a horse, but how to also learn long term social, learning, and communication skills. Modern therapy is the best therapy in my opinion. It helps children to be able to function in ways that without this therapy may not be able to. It helps them to get jobs and live a normal