Spinal cord injury and equine therapy

Spasticity is known as an accompanying phenomenon of spinal cord injuries and was defined by Lance as an increased reflex activity, as well as a velocity-dependent increase in muscle tone elicited by passive stretching. Not every patient suffering from spasticity necessarily requires treatment. However, depending on the severity of spasticity it may interfere with activities of daily life. In the Stockholm spinal cord injury study, for example, more than 41% of subjects with spastic paralysis reported excessive spasticity associated with additional functional impairment and/or pain, and 2/3 of the subjects with spastic paralysis took medication to treat their spasticity. What other possibilities besides medication are there to reduce high muscle tone?

 

For several years hippotherapy has been used in rehabilitation of spinal cord injured patients (SCIs) and positive effects on spasticity have been reported. Unfortunately, only few studies assessing the effect of hippotherapy on spasticity have been conducted, and most of the existing literature is not in the English language. Studies that aim at explaining the mechanisms underlying the positive effect of hippotherapy on spasticity are even more scarce. Unlike therapeutic horseback riding, which teaches riding skills to individuals with disabilities, hippotherapy is a neurophysiological treatment that uses the movement of the horse. The hypothesis is that the rhythmical side flexion and extension of the patient's trunk combined with trunk torsion have a beneficial effect on spasticity. The working mechanism of hippotherapy on spasticity may be complex. According to neurophysiological standards, an inhibition of the spasticity is achieved through the saddle position in hip flexion – abduction – external rotation as well as through rhythmical and three-dimensional equine movements communicated to the patients' pelvis and trunk.A further impact on spasticity is also attributed to the psychosomatical effects. According to Strauss hippotherapy gains its unique effect through a neural facilitation, sensorimotor stimulation and psychosomatic influence.

 

 

equine therapy for Emotional Disabilities

Kids with emotional and behavioral issues can be difficult to work with. Most of them are slow to trust adults, and may be unwilling to trust anyone at all. In addition, if the emotional or behavioral issues are caused by abuse, the child could be angry and prone to emotional outbursts. Cognitive therapy that includes an equine assisted program can be of great benefit to this type of person.

 

There are several aspects of cognitive/equine assisted therapy that work well with kids who have emotional and behavioral issues. One of the simplest aspects is diversion. When a young person is focused on grooming, feeding, or exercising a horse, his focus is no longer on his own issues and problems. Far from being a "means of escape", caring for the horse provides an often-needed respite for the person's emotions and intellect. It can actually help the person feel refreshed and energized because the mind has been allowed to "rest" from its current problems.

 

 

Amputiees and Equine therapy

Horseback riding therapy is helping injured soldiers and other individuals who have lost limbs redevelop motor skills. Horses from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard, are being used to help amputees regain natural hip movement. Horses and human beings use the same circular movement in their hips, and riding on the back of a horse can help those who are injured learn how to balance and move their joints and muscles again, especially after the trauma of an amputation. The rider’s body is moved as the horse walks, and that movement stimulates nerves in the body to recognize familiar motions. The resulting overall improvement was measured when injured soldiers were tested on different daily tasks, including getting up from a chair. Within a few weeks, one individual, who had done therapeutic riding three times, was able to improve the time it took him to rise from a chair and sit back down from a starting time of 20 seconds down to 13 seconds (“Horses Help Wounded Soldiers Walk Again,” Associated Press, June 3). God’s creation is incredible in its complexity, and one of the most amazing aspects is the nature of human interaction with animals. Many people have had a treasured pet, and for those who are ill, animals can be a great comfort. Therapeutic horseback riding is a clear example of the built-in benefits God created for man when He populated the earth with animal life.

Equine therapy for troubled teens

Agitated teenagers release endorphins when angry or defiant, or in an otherwise aggressive mood. When endorphins are released, these hormones create a healthy and balancing effect that decreases the stress-causing chemicals.

An opportunity to interact with animals like the horse provides the troubled teenagers a chance to learn how to control and manage animals. This helps keep a healthy chemical balance. In effect the chemical connection between the horse and the teenagers will help them in interacting with others.
Troubled teenagers can see in the horse’s stubbornness and reluctance to follow orders.

This makes the teenagers realize how similar their behaviors are and understand their emotions and body languages, too. The sessions teaches him or her to work with the horse and recognize its body languages as he or she is taught to lead, groom and care for the horse in the horse therapy group sessions. They learn how to be sensitive and be aware of the horses’ emotions such as when horses feel nervous, relaxed, excited, frustrated or dangerous. Because the key to training and understanding a horse is the ability to identify the horses’ body language.

Equine therapy for the elderly

Equine therapy for the elderly is a very effective healing method for individuals, such as adults with Down’s syndrome, elderly stroke patients or war veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. These individuals can enjoy the rewards of equine-assisted activities such as riding and working with horses through the rhythmic motion generated when riding on the back of a mobile horse. The bond produced when the suffering individual feeds and grooms the horse can heal emotional and mental wounds reliably. The team that performs equine therapy and safety to the elderly may be composed of an equine specialist and a mental health professional.
Equine therapy for the elderly is also known as hippo therapy for the elderly. The therapy uses the variable, rhythmic repetitive movement of the horse to provide a support base for the elderly suffering from impaired conditions, balance problems, poor posture control, lessened mobility as well as traumatic brain injury or stroke.

PTSD and Equines

For thousands of years horses have been mystical, magical creatures playing the role of transportation, gladiator, companion, entertainer and more. Now they are also playing the role of psychotherapy assistant through a discipline known as Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) which is increasingly being used to treat war veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

In Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, horses are used as tools for military veterans to gain self-understanding and emotional growth.  It recognizes the bond between animals and humans and the potential for emotional healing that can occur when a relationship is formed between the two species.  In most cases, the horses are not ridden, and usually are not tethered in the arena, but allowed to roam free.  Exercises can be as simple as giving the client a halter, and letting them figure out how to approach the horse and put it on.

Confidence:The learning and mastery of a new (horsemanship) skill--enhances patients' confidence in their ability to tackle new projects, such as recovery, and leads to improved self-esteem.

Self-Efficacy:
Learning to communicate and achieve harmony with a large animal promotes renewed feelings of efficacy. A motivated "I can do it!" replaces feelings of helplessness, de-motivation, by empowering the person to take on new challenges in other areas of recovery.

Self-Awareness:
Riding helps participants to develop a more realistic view of themselves through awareness of their size in relation to the horse. This is especially important in treating patients with eating disorders as well as those with interpersonal aggression problems.
Communication:Horses' sensitivity to non-verbal communication assists patients in developing greater awareness of their emotions, the non-verbal cues that they may be communicating, and the important role of non-verbal communication in relationships.

Trust:
Learning to trust an animal such as a horse also aides in the development, or restoration, of trust for those whose ability to trust has been violated by difficult life experiences such as physical or sexual abuse, abandonment, neglect, or marital infidelity.

Perspective:
Through grooming activities and other types of care for a specific horse, patients are able to put aside the absorbing focus of their mental illness, such as depressive ruminations, and instead to direct their attention and interests outwardly toward safe and caring interactions.

Anxiety Reduction:
Many studies of human-animal interaction indicate that contact with animals significantly reduces physiological anxiety levels. Some patients are initially afraid of horses. But horses' genuineness and affection allay these fears, helping patients to embrace exposure therapy for their anxiety issues.
Decreasing Isolation:
For many individuals with mental illness, there is a long-term or recent history of feeling rejected by, and different from, other people. Mental illnesses are intrinsically isolating experiences. The horse's unconditional acceptance invites patients back into the fellowship of life.

Self-Acceptance:
Many patients are initially concerned that they will do something embarrassing while learning about or riding the horses. Yet patients quickly learn that the other participants are engaged in their own equine experiences, and they observe the comfort of the horses in their own skin. Fears of embarrassment in public are thereby often reduced and self-acceptance increased.

Impulse Modulation:
Particularly for those whose mental illness involves the experience of lost control over impulses, the need to communicate with a horse calmly and non-reactively promotes the skills of emotional awareness, emotion regulation, self-control, and impulse modulation. Research clearly indicates that animal-assisted therapy reduces patient agitation and aggressiveness and increases cooperativeness and behavioral control.

Social Skills:
Many individuals with mental illness are socially isolated or withdrawn. A positive relationship with a horse is often a first, safe step toward practicing the social skills needed to initiate closer relationships with people.

Assertiveness:
Communicating effectively with a horse requires the rider to demonstrate assertiveness, direction, and initiative; important skills that enable the patient to express their needs and rights more effectively in other relationships.

Boundaries:
Many patients have experienced prior relationships as controlling or abusive. Healing takes place as patients discover that riding occurs within the context of a respectful relationship between a rider and a horse, and that, although physically powerful, each horse typically operates within the boundaries of this mutually respectful relationship.

Creative Freedom:
Many persons with mental illness have been emotionally inhibited or over-controlled, and have lost some measure of spontaneity. The playful aspects of riding and team equine activities can help restore spontaneity and ability for healthy recreation and play.

Equine Therapy for Brain injury

The multidimensional movements of a walking horse — slow, rhythmic, repetitive, and continuous — and its strong base of support make it an excellent tool for increasing muscle strength and control in the patient. A patient sitting on a horse will feel the walking action of the animal (very similar to normal human gait) and will respond physically by shifting and moving parts of the body to maintain balance. “We can use machines for rehabilitation, but they will only work one muscle group at a time,” says Sumpter. “In the saddle, the patient makes the mental/physical connection and responds by moving the trunk, arms, shoulders, and head as needed.” For example, during gait transitions, the patient must read the movement and then perform subtle adjustments in the trunk to maintain a stable position. Balance, coordination, spinal strength, weight bearing and shifting, and overall endurance show marked improvement in a short space of time and enhance functional daily living skills.

 

Mood Disorders and Equine Therapy

For one thing, depressives tend to isolate, thereby precluding therapeutic interventions. On the other hand, those with high anxiety have trouble maintaining therapeutic gains, and for this reason, may downplay the benefits of therapy. So while traditional talk therapy may not always be the easiest way to treat these disorders, sometimes spending time with a horse can be just the trick.

Horses tend to bring people out of their shell, and not only in a environmental way. When interacting with a horse, a person who is depressed will register a different physiological response from what has been normal. And this very fact is important given that one of the hallmark features of major depression

is a flatlined physiological system.

Vison inpaired Children and horses

When people think of appropriate physical activities for blind and visually impaired children, horseback riding is usually not one that comes to mind. Riders typically function through their visual sense to steer and cue their horse. Imagine a child with low or no vision controlling a 1,000 to 1,300

pound animal. They must move through space on the back of this large horse without the aid of a cane or the feel of solid ground beneath their feet. However, at Sebastian Riding Associates, we have found horseback riding to be a wonderful activity for visually impaired children. A blind rider does not have an over dependence on vision, and can therefore move into the feeling and tactile aspects of riding more quickly. A goal for all riders is to advance to an ability to operate through touch and feel.