How Can Horses Help?

​Hippotherapy is the portion of an occupational, physical or speech therapy treatment session where a skilled medical professional utilizes a horse as a treatment tool to achieve specific functional therapy goals or outcomes.  The horse can help address specific occupational therapy goals including:

• Increasing strength and endurance in postural muscles for improved sitting and standing balance
• Increasing strength and endurance in the arms for functional reach and grasp
• Assisting with motor planning of gait and functional mobility 

The horse can also help teach social skills (particularly keying into non-verbal language) -- and believe it or not -- can assist with attention and focus. The therapist helps clients achieve these goals by manipulating specific properties of the horse’s movement, the position of the client on the horse, bend, speed, length of stride, directionality and use of specific tack.

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