Hippotherapy is a physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement as part of an integrated intervention program to achieve functional outcomes. Hippotherapy is a medical treatment session that uses the horse as a tool to help each rider reach their individualized therapeutic goals.

At Bit-By-Bit, we are both an American Hippotherapy Association Registered Facility and a NARHA Therapeutic Riding Center. This means the we adhere to the highest levels of education, professionalism, and program safety.

For our most severely physically impaired riders, our therapists are also trained in tandem hippotherapy (where the therapist sits behind the rider on the horse). Only a handful of centers nationwide can perform these intense techniques. At Bit-By-Bit our therapists SPECIALIZE in equine assisted therapies ensuring that the rider is receiving the best care that is possible.

PARENT and RIDER SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS:

Beware of therapy programs or aprofessionals that dabble in hippotherapy which is such a highly specialized, intensive treatment. Therapy horses need to be trained and cared for on a daily basis in order to be safe and effective therapeutic tools. Quality and safety can be compromised if horses are periodically “rented” by a therapist or if the therapist is not extremely familiar with the care and training of the animal that they are putting the rider on. Make sure that your hippotherapy provider is a true specialist.

POWERFUL TREATMENT STRATEGY:

Equine movement provides multidimensional movement, which is variable, rhythmic and repetitive. The horse provides a dynamic base of support, making it an excellent tool for increasing trunk strength and control, balance, building overall postural strength and endurance, addressing weight bearing, and motor planning.

The effects of equine movement on postural control, sensory systems, and motor planning can be used to facilitate coordination and timing, grading of responses, respiratory control, sensory integration skills, and attention skills. Equine movement can be used to facilitate the neurophysiologic systems that support all of our functional daily living skills.

Physical Therapists: The physical therapist can overlay a variety of motor tasks on the horse’s movement to address the motor needs of each patient and to promote functional outcomes in skill areas related to gross motor ability such as sitting, standing, and walking.

Occupational Therapists: The occupational therapist is able to combine the effects of the equine movement with other standard intervention strategies for working on fine motor control, sensory integration, feeding skills, attentional skills, and functional daily living skills in a progressively challenging manner.

Speech-Language Pathologists: The speech-language pathologist is able to use equine movement to facilitate the physiologic systems that support speech and language. When combined with other standard speech-language intervention strategies, the speech-language pathologist is able generate effective remediation of communication disorders and promote functional communication outcomes.

Specially trained therapy professionals evaluate each potential patient on an individual basis to determine the appropriateness of including hippotherapy as a treatment strategy.

The therapy professional works closely with the horse professional to manipulate various aspects of the horse’s movement, position, management style, equipment and types of activities to generate effective remediation protocols and to promote functional outcomes.