The Speech & Hearing Center offers hippotherapy as a part of our physical therapy program. Hippotherapy means “treatment with the help of the horse.” It is a physical, occupational, and speech therapy that utilizes the natural gait and movement of a horse to improve cognitive, neuromotor, and sensory input.

Hippotherapy is used to benefit patients with many diagnoses including, but not limited to:

Arthritis
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Behavioral Disorders
Cerebral Palsy
Developmental Delay
Genetic Syndromes
Guillain -Barre
Multiple Sclerosis
Sensory Processing Difficulties
Spinal Cord Injury
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

How a horse can help with treatment:

Their walk is similar to the movement of a human pelvis when walking, which translates to patient pelvis.
They provide sensory input that can be rhythmic and variable.
They serve as a great motivator in a natural setting.
As the child responds to the input, changes in function can occur.

Benefits of hippotherapy:

Hippo2

Arousal and attention
Balance
Body awareness
Endurance
Muscle strength
Posture
Timing
Coordination
Sequencing
Joint mobility

Hippo3 In addition to the positive impact on fine motor skills, increased motivation and participation in treatment and social emotional benefits have been greatly reported among patients in hippotherapy.

“We have been doing therapies with Malachi for a lot of years and we haven’t seen the results like what we have seen through hippotherapy. Through it he is motivated, challenged, and given the opportunity to experience normalcy. It is such a gift to him and also to me as a parent. Tara is amazingly gifted as a therapist and we are more than just a patient.” -Leah C.