Horses as therapists

Pooja Virendra Kumar / TNN / Mar 21, 2007, 00:43 IST

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Equine facilitated learning is now being looked upon as a fun-filled therapeutic option for special children.

BANGALORE: Horses as therapists for your differently-abled child? That's true. Equine facilitated learning (EFL) is now being looked upon as a fun-filled therapeutic option for physically, mentally and emotionally challenged people, especially children.
Researches in the West state that being in the vicinity of horses changes our brainwave patterns and has a calming effect on humans.
Pushpa Bopaiah, an equine therapist, who has been conducting therapeutic riding classes for the disabled for the past seven years in the city, attests it.
"The company of horses also stops people from being fixated on the past or on negative events," she says, added she has observed that children suffering from autism, Down's Syndrome, polio or attention deficit disorder — who often find it hard to communicate and carry out a task — are able to control horses better than normal adults can.

Horses as therapists also help as their rhythmic movement is similar to the human gait and the heat of the animal's body acts as physiotherapy for the stiff muscles of the children.
As part of the therapy, these special children need to ride horses and this improves their cognitive, emotional, physical and social skills.
"Activities like eye-hand co-ordination, concentration, respiration and the ability to memorise also improves as the children learn to climb a horse, hold the reins, rhythmically move with the horse's walking, trotting, cantering and galloping, all by themselves," said Bopaiah.

But for all this to work, choosing the right kind of horse is very crucial. Usually the child is scanned for his IQ level, checked for phobias and assessed on his social interaction, comprehension and body balance before a horse is chosen for him.
"There have been instances when a child scares the horse by screaming, scratching or pulling its hair, leading to an accident," she cautioned.
But usually as children are more open to developing an equal relationship with the animal and give one word instructions, which makes it easier for the horses to follow effectively.
For children with attention deficit disorder, the therapy helps them focus on the horse for long periods while riding.

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