Definition
Hippotherapy is a treatment that uses the multidimensional movement of the horse. The term hippotherapy comes from the Greek word “hippos” which means horse. Specially trained physical, occupational, and speech therapists use this treatment for clients who have movement dysfunction and social deficits. The central tenant of the intervention is to use the movement the client experiences while on horseback to improve physical capabilities while developing a therapeutic relationship (All, Loving, & Crane, 1999; Bass, Duchowny, & Llabre, 2009).
Historical Background
Pet ownership has been shown to be beneficial for individuals with a wide range of diagnoses (Voelker, 1995). Pet or animal therapy is based on the assumption that interactions with animals can cause both physiological changes and psychological benefits (All et al., 1999). For example, Lehrman and Ross (2001) reported an increase in verbal sounds made by a 9-year-old girl with visual impairments when pet therapy was...
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References and Readings
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Derby, K.M., Barretto, A., MacLaughlin, T. (2013). Hippotherapy. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_1485
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_1485
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