Definition

Here I am again, preparing for another summer course in Families in ECSE. As I reviewed my previous post, I realized that I had not posted since rejoining the Milestones Board by request. I just started with my original intent here to demonstrate "getting started." I googled therapeutic horseback riding and, of course, wikipedia, had an entry. Then I asked another question about research. This started me thinking......

Therapeutic horseback riding is on Wikipedia with a brief definition and reference to equine assisted therapy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_horseback_riding

However, it is the therapy research is still limited. In CO, a pilot study was implemented in 07-09 which found that children with autism spectrum disorders who were involved in therapeutic riding "showed significant improvements in levels of irritability, lethargy, stereotypic behavior and hyperactivity as well as improvements in expressive language, motor coordination and motor planning, on well-regarded measures." http://www.ctrcinc.org/programs/research.html

The poster presentation for this research can be found at http://www.ctrcinc.org/programs/PDF/IMFAR2010.pdf

It seemed to be a sound pilot study.

STRIDES, the NARHA journal lists research on their site, but most research is not current and some appear to be questionable.

http://www.strides.org/resources.html#Research%20and%20Thesis%20Papers

I am thinking a parent survey would be a good addition to the literature.....

Summer 2009

As I begin to prepare for my summer courses, I am returning to my original concept for this blog: How might I further investigate the impact of therapeutic riding on children and families? I decided to go back to the beginning, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. I was curious about where they are heading as an organization, wondering if any trends were apparent based on their membership increases/decreases, etc. Thus, I found the following:

NARHA Centers Offering Specialty Programs
2005 2006 2007 2008
Hippotherapy 211 188 168 227
Equine Facilitated Learning 111 112 110 140
Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy 63 60 54 77
Driving 39 44 46 54
Interactive Vaulting 62 58 45 65

I wonder about the increase / decrease / increase in hippotherapy programming. These programs must be facilitated by individuals like occupational therapists. There is a significant increase (no stats worked here :) in 2008. So are individuals more interested? Are therapists? Is insurance willing to foot the bill? The number of facilitate learning programs has also increased dramatically. Perhaps there is just better recordkeeping? Better training for program leaders? More interest or acceptability by families?
I think I will try to find what I can about the trends from my contacts at Milestones. Since resigning from the board in 2008, I have not been in touch with the programming aspects of Milestones.

www.narha.org

In the news

Another item in the news told about a woman who is visually impaired who teaches therapeutic riding. Perhaps, like yoga, it is becoming more acceptable and prevalent in society.

A Review

I have been writing bits and pieces over the past couple years about therapeutic riding. One thing I have noticed is that it is getting more attention. For example, there is now a category for therapeutic riding programs for the KY Equine Education Program (KEEP) and people are more aware it exists in general. However, there is still not enough research to support the education value.

Local program in the news

I saw an article in the CEC newsletter last week about a therapeutic riding program in Cincinnati. It highlighted a young woman who was unsure of her direction with regard to careers, but ended up as a riding instructor. Nice article.

Riding lessons

In Strides (the publication for NARHA), Broesma (2003) argues for incorporating myth into riding sessions. While she acknowledges that the study of mythology is complex, she expresses belief in the power of myth for helping children reflect their own lives on the sensory/physical, psychololical/historical, mythic/symbolic, and spiritual/unitive levels. She calls the experience with the horse mythological/symbolic.
I find this interesting and am curious how this might be researched. My interest may take on a new twist, albiet, a bit skeptical.

EQuestions and answers

I found a list of publications on research on therapeutic riding. I will investigate these for pertinent research. Much is related to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and hippotherapy. However, I will mine it with my inquiry in mind. Web site:
http://www.equest.org/misc/bibliography.shtml

EQuest

EQuest just checking to see if the commentary works

Another parent testimony

Mr. Mezzadra, as stated on the NARHA website, has attested to therapeutic riding and has "seen great strides in his daughter" who has mild MR and profound hearing loss with a cochlear implant. He says she gets very excited when they arrive, that her muscles relax when riding, that the horse's movement calms her, and that she imitates sounds and body movements.
I think this is an important observation by the father because it can be measureable. We need the researchers to carry this type of research out. I think I am getting some ideas that may be able to be drawn up and proposed to the Institutional Review Board.

Self Esteem and Therapeutic Riding

One study published on NARHA looked at pre and post self-esteem scores for five children ages 8-13 with CP, LD, and hypotonia who were engaged in therapeutic riding. Using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, these children did show significant increases in self esteem pre-post.
This was a minute pilot study, but could definitely have implications for future studies. It could be triangulated with other pieces of information, including parent perceptions.

Galty, C.M. (no date given). Psychosocial impact of therapeutic riding: A pilot study. retrieved from www.narha.org/PDFfiles/pyschosocial_impact.pdf June 8, 2006

Parent anecdote

I found an anecdote from a parent, Connie Lee, on the NARHA website. Her three year old daughter has "a serious medical disorder" and has had three brain hemmorages and multiple surgeries. She says that the therapeutic riding has been positive for her daughter; that her daughter is "being challenged and growing in every developmental area." She also states that her daughter is becoming very attached to the horse.
I would argue that most children become attached to the horses they ride. In addition, riding is challenging for all beginning riders. Again, measuring what growth is a result of the riding program and what is just normal development is warranted - but tricky to do.

Natural Environments

I have not been attentive to the blog lately -

Instruction in the natural environment requires significant planning. It should have clear, observable goals and reflect the principles of effective instructional practice. As researcher Steven Warren (1998) reminds us, these procedures "were developed because they can be embedded in the stream of ongoing interaction and can effectively accelerate the development of certain skills if they are used frequently, with fidelity, and within the child's zone of proximal development."
Given this goal for ECSE, isn't therapeutic horseback riding perfect?

Warren, S. (1998). Back to the future? Journal of Early Intervention, 21(4), 297-298.