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Horse Therapy Question

My son just attended his first Horse Therapy session. Ours is not called "hippo-therapy" as their is no PT involved. The trainer has been trained and works frequently with special needs children. The trainer and a "walker" worked with him to aquaint him with the horse and teach him some basics for riding & safety. My question is this - should he be trying to "stand" or lift himself up from the sitting position. They were having him try to do this but it was really hard - as we all know the quads are the weakest! If anyone else is using hippotherapy, I'd like to know what they are and are not doing!

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Permalink Reply by Angela on August 27, 2008 at 7:05pm

Hi Tracy,

Jack is 7 (almost 8) and it sounds like does about the same thing here. He does stand in the saddle some also, because that is how you learn to ride English (or "post"). Our instructor did take some time to research DMD and we talked with her & his volunteer. Both know to let him self regulate what he can and can't do. This has not been an issue, because it is usually ony for a couple minutes of each class. I would suggest discussing your concerns with your instructor, it might prompt her to do a little more research and adjust the class a bit. Jack's instructor added "stretching games" once she did research and found the value in it. Jack's is called therapeutic riding, not hippotherapy also.

Jack loves it and has gained many skills over the last year. He is successful at riding off lead for short times now and this is his "sport". It has been wonderful to see him "gain" at something and feel successful.

Ang :)