Horse
Therapy
In my present WIP, I have my heroine, Lucille
Thoroughgood, the social worker introduced in my short story, Unexpected
Blessings, con Hank Wilding (one of Banjo’s twin sons) into allowing the kids
with emotional and physical handicaps come to his ranch and ride the horses
with the help of the professional therapists from the orphanage. I hinted in
Unexpected Blessings that these two characters had a little something going on
between them and now it’s coming to fruition in this WIP with the tentative
title Home For The Heart.
I started out with zero knowledge about horses or
therapy with horses when I came up for the plot, so naturally, it called for
research. My research became very intriguing. I found out so many things I had
never realized before. Some of you may already know about this amazing therapy,
but I thought I share a bit of the highlights of what I learned.
How Horse
Therapy Works
Kids with emotional and behavioral have issues with
trust, especially adults, that makes them difficult to help. Some of them have
suffered abuse at the hands of adults, even adults who should be trustworthy
and love them like their parents or foster parents. They are prone to outbursts
of anger or emotional rants. Therapy
that includes gentle, nonjudgmental horses can be a great way to reach these
children.
Equine assisted psychotherapy involves equine
activities set up and facilitated by a licensed mental health professional,
often includes the help or standby support of a horse professional. These
activities are most often performed on the ground (rather than riding), and
include such things as grooming, feeding, haltering and leading the horse.
During the process of working with the horse, the therapist and child engage in
talk therapy, processing feelings, behaviors and patterns. The ultimate goal
for the child is to build skills such as personal responsibility,
assertiveness, non-verbal communication, self-confidence, and self-control.
You may ask, why use horses for psychotherapy? Horses
need a lot of care, and that’s a good thing because a child can put aside his
or her own troubles in the immediate job of caring for the horse. Horses are
large and strong, which challenges a person to overcome his fear in order to
work with the animal. Horses mirror moods, too. They respond negatively to
negative emotions, teaching a child that his behavior can affect others, and
make it necessary to modify behavior in order to work successfully with the
animal.
Much can be learned from simply observing horse
behavior. Horses can be stubborn or defiant, playful or moody. They have a
variety of "herd dynamics" such as pushing, kicking, biting,
squealing, grooming one another, and grazing together. In the process of
describing the horse and the interactions between the horses, children can learn
about themselves and their own family dynamics.
Equine assisted therapy offers kids with emotional and
behavioral issues a safe environment in which to work through issues of fear,
anxiety, self-doubt, and poor communication. By teaching the child how to work
with and communicate with the horse, the therapist will be indirectly teaching
the child how to apply these same skills in inter-personal relationships.
You may wonder how the therapy begins and how it
works. One of the first aspects of helping these kids is diversion. When the
young person feeds, grooms, and exercises the horses, their attention no longer
goes toward themselves and their overwhelming issues and problems, but to the
horse in their care. It’s a way to escape and a respite for the child’s
emotions and intellect. It can help him or her feel energized and refreshed
because their minds aren’t busily involved with their own problems.
Many of these kids don’t know anything about horses,
and this therapy included teaching them these new skills. Learning these skills
is especially good for kids who are impatient, anxious, or have low
self-confidence. There is communication between the counselor and the child in
learning these skills and the child is reassured that it takes time to learn and
they can take their time learning them. These skills which are developed over
time, give the child a safe environment in which they can make mistakes. If
they have a parent or sibling who is quick to criticize and unforgiving of
mistakes, horse therapy can be an excellent way to counteract those negative
criticisms. The therapist can validate the child’s feelings of fear,
frustration, or anxiety and teach the child that feelings are healthy while he
or she develops appropriate coping mechanisms. The children gain confidence as
they get better and better at caring for the horses. Easier tasks like learning
to tack or walk a how can give the child an immediate sense of satisfaction and
accomplishment. These accomplishments give the therapists a foundation on which
to continue building confidence and trust with the children.
The therapist has the opportunity to teach by example
as the child learns new skills and, if the child gets angry or frustrated, the
therapist can discuss and model appropriate ways to express these emotions. Some
of these children come from an environment in which people yell at each other
when they’re angry. The horse therapy sessions may provide opportunities to
demonstrate real-life evidence that it is possible and more productive to talk
instead of yell when they disagree.
Since an equine assisted program requires planning and
scheduling, it is another benefit to the therapy. Kids with emotional and
behavioral issues may struggle with schedule and structure. They may want what
they want when they want it. Scheduling tasks help them begin to learn the
benefits of setting a time and sticking to a schedule. Caring for an animal,
even for just a day, requires flexibility. Children who have difficulty when
schedules are changed will learn how to become more flexible and learn
realistic expectations of how to change a schedule when things don’t go as
planned.
A child's responses to the horses can also provide
excellent insight into the child's opinions of self and of others, especially
authority figures. These kids can learn how to work through their issues of
fear, anxiety, self-doubt, and poor communication in a safe environment, By
teaching the child how to work with and communicate with the horse, the
therapist indirectly teaches the child how to apply these same skills in
inter-personal relationships.
But why use horses for psychotherapy? One reason is
because horses need a lot of care. A client can put aside his or her own
troubles in the immediate job of caring for the horse. Horses are large and
strong, which challenges a person to overcome his fear in order to work with
the animal. Horses mirror moods, too; they respond negatively to negative
emotions, teaching the client that his behavior can affect others, and making
it necessary to modify behavior in order to work successfully with the animal.
Much can be learned from simply observing horse
behavior. Horses can be stubborn or defiant, playful or moody. They have a
variety of "herd dynamics" such as pushing, kicking, biting,
squealing, grooming one another, and grazing together. In the process of
describing the horse and the interactions between the horses, clients can learn
about themselves and their own family dynamics.
Equine assisted psychotherapy is thought to be an
effective short-term therapeutic approach for both individuals and families,
addressing a number of mental health problems, including behavioral issues,
depression and anxiety, low self esteem, eating disorders, ADD/ADHD, post
traumatic stress disorder, and relationship problems. While there is a need for
research to support anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of Equine assisted
psychotherapy, this type of animal assisted therapy is slowly gaining support
among mental health professionals.
Horse therapy also helps children with physical
disabilities. Though there are some things the children cannot do because of
their physical limitations, there are many things they can do. Imagine what it
must be like for children who are dependent on a wheelchair to get around because
they can’t walk, having an opportunity to sit in a saddle and allow the horse
to be their legs, walking with freedom. Children with physical disabilities
will need assistance from therapists to get on the horse and special equipment
in some cases, to be able to sit up on the horse. These activities allow the
child to gain physical strength and emotional well-being. According to the articles I read and quote here: therapeutic riding was developed in the 1950s in
Europe as a tool for improving the lives of individuals with physical
disabilities. The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA)
was founded in 1969 to promote and support therapeutic riding in the United
States and Canada.
Individuals with almost any kind of disability,
whether temporary or permanent, can benefit from therapeutic riding, which is
essentially any physical interaction with horses that is guided by a person
trained specifically in this type of equine-assisted therapy.
Research conducted by the American Hippotherapy Association
has proven that the multidimensional movements of the horse provide a disabled
rider with "the opportunity to explore, control and coordinate posture and
movement".
Horseback riding gently and rhythmically moves the
rider's body in a manner similar to a human gait. Riders with physical
disabilities often show improvement in flexibility, balance and muscle
strength.
"Positive effects from the movement of the horse
can be seen in motor coordination, muscle tone, postural alignment,
stiffness/flexibility and strength. Other effects on body systems can and do
occur as well. Changes are often seen in the respiratory, cognitive, sensory
processing, balance, affective, arousal and speech/language production
functions," writes Joann Benjamin, PT, HPCS, in an article on the AHA
website.
There are also undeniable, positive psychological
benefits to therapeutic riding. First, there's the simple fact of just being
outdoors, breathing in the fresh air, hearing the birds - versus being in a
doctor's office or physical therapy center. Then there's the interaction with
the horse itself. Horses are non-judgmental...they bring no prejudices to the
process. Finally, there's the huge boost in self-esteem when someone who has
had difficulty controlling their body or mind learns to control a 3,000-pound
creature that definitely has a mind of its own.
There is widespread acceptance of hippotherapy within
the medical/professional and educational communities. The American Physical
Therapy Association (APTA), American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
and the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) all recognize
hippotherapy.
Major third party payers throughout the country
reimburse for treatment that includes the movement of the horse as a treatment
tool. Continuing Education Units (CEU's) are routinely granted for AHA approved
and other courses taught by clinicians with recognized expertise in
hippotherapy.
Articles on the use of the horse in treatment are
published in peer reviewed journals such as Physical Therapy the
official journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, Physical and
Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, and Developmental Medicine and Child
Neurology, in addition to numerous articles in clinical publications.
So whether you call it hippotherapy, equine-assisted
therapy or therapeutic riding, this is a powerful process that cannot be
replicated mechanically. Just about anyone with any type of physical or mental
disability can benefit from participating in equine-facilitated therapy and
activities.
I used some of these techniques while writing my present Wilding story and did my best in this way to advocate this remarkable therapy to help
children. I hope that using this horse therapy research helps to make the story I want to tell more realistic, and something for which I can be proud.
To find a certified AHA therapist, call the American
Hippotherapy Association, Inc., at 877-851-4592 or go online at www.americanhippotherapyassociation.org
