What is Hippotherapy?
“Hippo” is a Greek term for “horse.”
“Hippotherapy” is a term used in the United States that refers to a medical treatment strategy provided by physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language pathologists who use the movement of the horse as a direct treatment strategy for individuals with mental and/or physical dysfunction.
People with a diagnosis such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, developmental disorder, cerebral vascular accident, traumatic brain injury, and a myriad of other congenital and acquired physical and mental health conditions, often participate in goal-directed therapy sessions using the treatment strategy know as “Hippotherapy.” Some examples of therapy goals are; improving balance, coordination, posture, fine motor control, vocal quality and articulation, and cognitive and sensory processing skills.
Skilled treatment sessions that incorporate the therapeutic strategy of "Hippotherapy" differ from other types of therapeutic, mounted horse activity, in that the participant is a more passive recipient of the stimulation the horse provides. The participant is not typically encouraged to cue the horse’s movement or to guide the horse’s direction unless it is a specifically designed part of the therapeutic goals.
The horse’s dynamic movement alone, provided by the professionally trained hippotherapy horse, is often said to be the “therapy.” But various position changes of the individual on the horse, the use of manipulative activities and cognitive “games,” and various unmounted activities may also be incorporated into the therapeutic goals of a specific individual.
In California, this treatment strategy is only done by a state licensed therapist (RPT/PTA, OTR/COTA or SLP) who may have been specially trained through the American Hippotherapy Association (AHA) to use the movement of the horse to facilitate improvements in their client/patient. Therapists may also use traditional therapy techniques such as NDT (neurodevelopmental treatment) and SI (sensory integration), along with the movement of the horse, as part of the therapy strategy.
The therapist does not teach the individual how to ride the horse, but the therapist may utilize a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International (PATH, Intl.- formerly known as NARHA) trained instructor to work in conjunction with the therapy "team." Therapists may also be "dually trained" to provide both professional intervention services.
"Registration" as a professional who has completed specific levels of training by AHA to provide hippotherapy treatment strategies is strongly encouraged by PATH, Intl.. Yet, this training and registration is not required for a skilled horse person, who is a therapist as well, to utilize a horse in their therapy strategies with their patient. But, if the therapist is doing the therapy at a PATH, Intl.center site, they must have the AHA/PATH, Intl. training and registration to do so.
The AHA also offers to Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech & Language Pathology clinicians, advanced levels of training and certification leading to a “clinical specialization” in the use of this specialized and unique intervention strategy in their therapy practice.
Some of the goals of Fresno Hippotherapy are to make registration and certification training more accessible in the Central Valley residents through collaboration with our local institutes of higher education; and to, therefore, make these new and innovative types of therapeutic options more available to the general public.
