Service Description

Hippotherapy is a physical, occupational, and speech therapy that utilizes the natural gait and movement of a horse to provide motor, and sensory input. It is based on improvement of neurologic functions, and sensory processes, and used for patients with physical, and mental disorders. Children with various mental and physical disabilities make up the patient population for Hippotherapy. This includes, but is not restricted to: Cerebral Palsy Traumatic Brain Injury Down Syndrome Autism Behavioural Disorders Muscular Dystrophy Amputees Cerebrovascular disease Multiple Sclerosis Psychiatric Diseases Spinal Cord Injuries Rheumatism Joint Diseases Etc. Hippotherapy requires specialisation and can be provided by the therapists listed below once they have completed the necessary training and certification. -Physiotherapists (PT) -Occupational therapists (OT) -Speech-language pathologists (SLP) Hippotherapy is a treatment modality whose effectivenes has been confirmed in a large patient group with physical or mental disabilities when applied by an experienced therapist with the aid of a horse. Equine-asisted therapy is being used widely in many countries of the world. We think that as the importance of hippotherapy is acknowledged more deeply by physicians, and therapists in our country, greater number of patients, and their families will benefit from this form of treatment.