Michigan Abilities Center

Equine Assisted Therapy: Benefits & Indications

Equine assisted therapy encompasses:

• Hippotherapy (physical, occupational, & speech therapists)
• Equine facilitated mental health (mental health professionals)
• Equine facilitated learning (rehabilitation professionals & educators)
• Therapeutic riding (riding instructors trained to work with special needs)

Unique benefits of equine assisted therapy:

• Equine movement provides a precise, graded, repetitive tri-planar pattern of movement through space that is similar to human pelvic motion during gait.
• Normal postural responses can be developed on a dynamic surface.
• Sensory conditions can be graded to appropriately challenge clients.
• Motivating and fun experience allows for problem solving and endurance.

Equine assisted therapy indications:

Equine facilitated therapy benefits individuals across the lifespan with a variety of special needs, including the following impairments.

• Attention, behavior, cognition, learning, organization
• Balance, postural control, fine and gross motor function
• Range of motion, muscle tone and extensibility, strength
• Self-esteem, self-confidence, social skills, speech, wellness
• Sensory integration, coordination, motor planning, sequencing, timing

Partial listing of diagnoses that can benefit from equine assisted therapy:

More Information

To learn more about the benefits of equine assited therapy, please visit NARHA.org

Michigan Abilities Center is a NARHA Member Center