Horse Integrated Therapy Essay

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a. Horse integrated therapy more specifically, therapeutic horseback riding (THR) first “originated in Denmark in 1952 when Madame Lis Hartel, wheelchair dependent due to polio, rehabilitated herself and later won Olympic medals with her horse” (Gabriels et al., 2012). b. The idea of riding horses for therapy and rehabilitation purposes spread in the 1960s from Denmark, England, and Norway then finally to the U.S. and Canada. c. Ever since then, patients in the U.S. that have a wide range of disabilities have used therapeutic horseback riding to improve physical, emotional/temperament, and cognitive functions. d. As cited from Engel, “In order to standardize this growing industry, in 1969, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association …show more content…

Within this group are interventions that could be both horse directed therapy and horse activities. 2. What exactly is Animal Integrated Therapy? a. Animal integrated therapy has been defined as “using animals within a goal oriented setting to implement treatment”, which has shown to help cognitively, psychologically, and socially to great extent (Fine, 2006). 3. Now what is Horse Integrated Therapy? a. Horse integrated therapy is defined as using horseback riding activities to improve posture, balance, and mobility while developing a therapeutic bond between the patient and horse (All, Loving, & Crane, 1999) b. Margaret M. Bass, Maria M. Llabre, and Catherine A. Duchowny conducted a study on the possible effects horseback riding has on the social functioning on children with autism. i. Results showed that “autistic children exposed to therapeutic horseback riding exhibited greater sensory seeking, sensory sensitivity, social motivation, and less inattention, distractibility, and sedentary behaviors” (Bass, Llabre, & Duchowny, 2009). ii. The results they’ve gathered had provided evidence showing with the help of therapeutic horseback riding, this may prove to be a viable therapeutic option in regards to treating children with autism spectrum

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