Improving the Lives of Patients with Hippotherapy: A Workshop on “Horses that Heal”
By Anne Kuwabara, Stanley Guillaume, & Samiran Bhattacharya
Introduction
“Walk on!” a boy confidently commanded. As directed, his 1,200-pound friend walked forward, keeping the boy safe and balanced on his back. This was not just any boy. This was a boy with cerebral palsy who had barely spoken more than a handful of words during his first five years of his life. This is just one example of the amazing work accomplished by the team at Maryland Therapeutic Riding (MTR). In collaboration with the team at MTR, the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) Interest Group at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine hosted a workshop to educate medical students about the value of hippotherapy on November 12th, 2016.
Maryland Therapeutic Riding
Founded in 1996, MTR is a registered 501©(3) public non-profit organization that provides therapeutic options for children and adults with a range of physical, mental, and emotional challenges. Conditions served include: cerebral palsy, spina bifida, neuromuscular disorders, post-traumatic brain injury, autism, ADHD, and cognitive disorders. Program participants improve self-confidence, strength, balance, coordination, attention span, and language and social skills.
Utilizing certified instructors, licensed therapists, volunteers and specially trained horses, MTR provides two programs: Therapeutic Riding and Hippotherapy. In Therapeutic Riding, instructors use the horse as a conduit for achieving individualized therapy goals. Hippotherapy is derived from the Greek term hippos (horse). The term refers to therapy aided by a horse. Occupational, physical or speech therapists direct each highly structured, one-on-one session. Specialty programs are offered for veteran and active duty U.S. military wounded warriors, injured community-service personnel, and their families. MTR is a Premier Operating Center accredited by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH).
The Workshop
The day began with an overview of the program and personal experiences of program participants. Our group then proceeded to the stables. There, we were guided around the 25-acre farm by staff members and shared some nuzzles with a few horses from the herd. We observed riders as they saddled up and participated in their sessions. The transformations we saw were inspiring. On their steeds, children sat beaming with confidence, remarkable posture, and most importantly big smiles on their faces. Before our very eyes, the horses became extensions of the riders. We could appreciate the continued mastery of balance, strength, self-confidence and happiness. Several months ago, these same children could barely even stand, walk, or talk. The bond they made with the horses was transformative and bestowed the skills to live the life they had envisioned. These successes were expertly facilitated by the teamwork and passion of certified instructors, licensed therapists, and volunteers.
The Relationship to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Programs such as hippotherapy define the philosophy of PM&R. The field of PM&R began in the 1930s and gained momentum after World War II to help restore the lives of returning veterans with disabilities. The American Board of Medical Specialties approved it as a specialty in 1947. Physiatrists specialize in designing comprehensive, patient-centered treatment plans to maximize function, performance and quality of life (medically, socially, emotionally, and vocationally) for patients after injury or disease. We focus not on one organ system but instead on patients as a whole in the context of his or her environments. Throughout our medical training, we often treat patients with the goal of being disease-free. However, in PM&R, we shift the goal towards treating patients to go beyond disease-free. We help patients work towards improved performance and quality of life. Our students were impressed by the effectiveness of this novel therapeutic option and approach. After this workshop, hippotherapy and the prioritization of patient performance and quality of life will be a part of our students’ repertoires for the care of future patients.
Future Directions
Share information about this life-changing therapy with your community to reach those who may benefit. Physicians can refer patients for hippotherapy. However, the therapy is not typically covered by insurance at this time. Research trials are currently being done to validate this form of therapy.
Take an opportunity to visit a hippotherapy center nearby. We know it will be as much of an enlightening experience for you as it was for our group. For more information on hippotherapy and on how to locate a PATH-accredited hippotherapy center near you:
- http://www.horsesthatheal.org/
- http://www.pathintl.org/
- http://www.americanhippotherapyassociation.org/
Stanley Guillaume, Anne Kuwabara, and Samiran Bhattacharya are students at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and members of the school’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Interest Group.
