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:

  • Autism
  • Amputations
  • Attention Deficit Disorder
  • Emotional Disabilities
  • Learning Disabilities
  • Mental Impairments
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cardiovascular accident/Stroke
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Deafness
  • Developmental delay
  • Sensory processing disorders
  • Spina Bifida
  • Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Down Syndrome
  • Elderly
  • Vestibular disorders
  • Visual Impairments

More Information

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

Michigan Abilities Center is a NARHA Member Center