Equine therapy in children with emotional and physical disabilities
Abstract
The study evaluated the effects and the role equine treatment has on children who have limitations, either physically or emotionally. To achieve the objective of the study, we utilized scholarly articles and researched the Equine Assisted Activities (EAA) on children with disabilities. Various techniques were used, such as interviewing children undergoing the therapy and also the adults who underwent the treatment as well as the experts conducting the equine therapy to the disabled children. The samples of the study were a controlled group of children with disabilities, and the change in their emotions after the study was measured using the behavior Assessment Scale for children (Stewart, n.d.). Also, their adaptive skills, The Self- Report of personality was used to show the effectiveness of Equine Therapy. The study utilized the grounded theory in understanding and investigating the use of a horse is improving and helping children with disabilities in becoming better. Throughout the survey, two objectives guided the study. One was to highlight the significance ability through an evidence-based equine therapy survey in reducing emotion and behavior problems. Secondly, the study would highlight the improvement of the children’s well-being form Equine therapy. However, since the benefits of horse therapy for children with disabilities have attracted numerous studies, a lot is missing in the reviews. The purpose of the study is to enhance the understanding of the effects and effectiveness of Equine therapy as well as help me in fulfilling my dream of offering care to the physical and emotionally disabled children. Also, in fulfilling family dreams, the study of Equine therapy acts as a blueprint for the start-up for the care center to the community.
Introduction
Equine-assisted therapy involves two different methods; Therapeutic Riding and Hippotherapy involving donkey and horses. According to the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH), therapeutic Riding is an equine-assisted activity whose main aim is to positively help individuals with special needs in their cognitive, physical, emotional, and well-being (Sulkowsk, 2017). At the same time, Hippotherapy refers to occupational, physical, or speech therapy, which many children with a disability receive using equine movement as the main tool of the therapy by therapists as it tries to connect with other practices (Mayer, 2019). However, the two methods have great benefits to children with disabilities and other conditions. The therapy helps the children through muscle tone enhancement. co-ordination and balance through the responses of children to the animal shapes and movement where the riding position stretches the hips and legs of the animals enabling movement of the child and also reducing pain as well as social and psychological effects through interaction with an individual reducing anxiety and promoting and encouraging communication in a child with a disability and special needs (PenCRU, 2014). The involvement of the animal as a way of therapy giving to children with a disability has proven to have many benefits than effects on the child’s health and physical stability movement of children.
Though the studies are not robust in their evidence, the small sample studied highlights the significant benefits of equine-assisted therapy in the motor function of the children by improving the postural control and balance for cerebral palsy children. The therapy also has proven beneficial to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among the animal intervention studies carried out through evidence on improved social communication and interaction. However, animal intervention therapy may also cause some considerable negative effects on the children. Though gaining activity to the child is the main objective, the children may end become ng hyperactive and generate inattention more than before, which affects their physical and emotions severely while that of the parents.
The therapy has attracted a steady growth in its use from its impressive benefits. Since the formation of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association in Denver in 1969, there has been an increase of more than 500 centers around the country with New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut having 39 centers and other 60 centers joining each year. However, the huge finances required to run these centers see quite a significant number of them drop out after a year of operation (Stewart, 2018). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides free and appropriate education as their mandate with over 6milion students aged 3 to 21 served under the institution. Disabilities are classified under 13 categories ranging from autism, inability to see and hear an emotional disturbance, and traumatic brain injury, among others (Stebbins, 2012). The children with the various forms of disability need critical and appropriate engagement in their lives and studies through being offered adequate and critical attention by stimulating their cognitive and motor senses to promote learning.
Due to the special needs and attention, children with disabilities and other special needs require. Equine therapy seems like the best way of engaging the children in promoting their engagement. Through the participation, the cognitive, motor, and other sensory organs of the children, which are slow to reaction and movement, become engaged to a stimulus. which relaxes them and helps them concentrate more, thus improving their physical abilities such as sitting upright by reducing the pain and also improving their communication, such as in autistic children. There was a need to conduct a study on equine therapy in these children to deeply understand and have a longitudinal study to benefits of therapy. And its ability to become incorporated with other treatment forms in improving the well-being of children and for their families and caregivers in promoting their physical and emotional health.
Method
The study utilized the existing research on equine therapy and compared their results using the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) in the related test of the children before, after, and follow up treatment through the equine therapy process. The samples involved for experiments were specifically collected and interviews or experiments conducted through the equine program, where they were used to investigate their emotional and behavioral functioning and the effectiveness of the therapy in their life and school functioning (Stebbins, 2012). The children were picked from proximity with their schools for easy monitoring of their school life after the end of the equine therapy session with different children in the participating group attending different schools.
Professional reviews and media interviews of parents with children with special needs and disability undergoing equine therapy was also captured to learn why parents thought it was the best for their children. Also, the documented interviews of adults who underwent through the program were utilized by noting their testimonies of how equine therapy impacted their lives and shaped what they are today. The criteria used to identify participants was that the children had to attend the different schools and comprised different sexes, with males being more than the females, with 82% being males and 18% being females across all races in the country (Stebbins, 2012). The students participating were also clinically diagnosed with a disability or emotional disorders. Some programs run for one week for the participants’ changes in behaviors and emotions being recorded as well as emotional changes as a result of the equine therapy. Across other interventions, the therapy was compared to determine its effectiveness and also to demonstrate its ability to integrate with other therapeutic methods and approaches. However, most of the involved programs and individuals’ interviews had to get consent from parents or caretakers for the information and assessment of the children with disabilities. After being undertaken through the program in equine therapy, the students underwent follow up monitoring to record their post equine therapy behavioral and emotional changes. However, to also record the effects on the well-being of the children with disabilities and special needs. The study recorded thoughts of the parents and how they felt their children had changed after undergoing the therapy and before the equine therapy condition of their child. Significantly the family and caregivers, as well as the children themselves, underwent various session from a psychologist who helped deal with the emotion part before undergoing the equine therapy for the effectiveness of the therapy by changing the attitude and mind of state for the children acting as an encouragement for them to undertake the program.
Literature Review
Physical and mental healing in human beings is greatly influenced by horses, which play a vital role in the healing and recovery of the various difficulties we go through (Haggerty, 2014). They have a capability in serving as a compassionate and accommodating partner in human being lives with significant ability if reminding humans on the simplicities of life, connection to nature, and the rhythms and cycles of life, which are very innate (Haggerty, 2014). From history, human beings have been associated with domestication of animals having a passionate and deep connection with their pets’ such as cats and dogs. Though the variety of animals domesticated and kept as friends vary from one person to another, a horse is one common animal likable to many, and others desire just to ride on them for fun and also sporting activities.
The history of man shows that the involvement of various animals has aided the treatment of various illnesses. The animal guardian spirit belonging to a shaman in the Native American History was called upon to facilitate the healing of diseases. the use of animals grew, and also their purpose was redefined in the 19th century, with the pets being believed to provide a socialization factor of function to the children with disabilities becoming introduced in health and institution care systems (Stebbins, 2012). Through increased animal rights activists and increased urbanization, most animals have found the way in the care of human beings. thus affecting the well-being of humans and becoming a connecting factor to the persons with disability by their ability to have positive effects on the treatment of mental health.
The connection between an animal, especially that of a horse, is the ability to merge the mind and the body of their rider to them, thus enhancing and bringing out the human spirit to the world’s new and unique perceptions (Haggerty, 2014). As Walter Prescot Webb once said, the horse in a literal and symbolic sense can lift and strengthen the status and emotions of those riding and using them for any reason through their ability to insert certain emotional effects peculiarly (Haggerty, 2014). Similarly, horse, even in ancient times, was a symbol of power and superiority, symbolizing victory and triumph. Therefore when one rides on the horse or uses the horse, they acquire these symbolic aspects. The horse has strength but shows humbleness through letting the rider and the user control them and their ability to adapt to any rider who rides them.
The treatment of children with a disability requires a method tailored to meet their specific needs. The interventions require a holistic intervention and incorporation of the various therapeutic methods used. Various methods, such as the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which is commonly used to treat and address issues of the children facing autism, is usually applied in treating children with disabilities and special needs. The methods use the approach of the verbal or physical stimulus, behavior stimulus, and consequences approach of positive reinforcement. (Haggerty, 2014). The psychologist also utilizes the Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) in increasing the social, academic, and communication skills of the children. However, more physical therapy of enabling the child to independently participate in life through enhancing the motor and cognitive skills is applied.
Equine-assisted therapies have two categories of approach involving the Therapeutic Riding and the hippotherapy. The therapeutic Riding in the U.S.A. came to exist as a result of the British Riding for the Disabled programs and the German and Swiss Clinical model. It bases its model on Animal Assisted Therapy, where the animal is introduced into an individual’s surroundings (CRC, 2015). It can help children with disabilities since it has the responsibilities activities involving the children input themselves. It helps the children interact with the animals. The learning activities help the children on gaining a sense of responsibility and keep them involved in changing their behaviors and emotions since they generate a sense of connection with the horse making them learn the importance of communicating and listening.
Equine Assisted Therapy, on the other hand, directly address the needs of the children with disability and special needs and thus becoming the most preferred method of treatment. The method involves using the horse as a sequel to the patient in facilitating their growth and development in life skills while providing an interactive situation between the children and the horses. The horse riding therapy provides a plethora of activities that help and transforms the children struggling with a disability while also providing an educative process for the parents to learn the needs and requirements in raising children with disabilities by giving details to all their physical and emotional needs.
Benefits of Equine therapy
The numerous studies conducted have highlighted multiple benefits of partaking the equine therapy among children with disabilities. Through the psychosocial ability of the therapy, the children benefit in various areas. When children participate in the therapy there self-confidence, and their self-esteem becomes lifted and enhanced while developing their emotions and social skills. One parent who was interviewed through the process highlighted the numerous benefits of equine therapy in changing the life and behavior of their autistic child, where they developed different skills through getting involved in the therapy (Batema, n.d.). The parents greatly thank the program to its ability to also changing their life by giving them an easy time with their children whenever they participate in therapy through the bonding.
Psychotherapeutic impacts of the riding program among the adults receiving the mental treatment with their data collected across the program for one year showed increased confidence levels in themselves. Most of the children and adults who have a disability of any form lack confidence and self-esteem among themselves due to the perceptions people have on them. The community looks at these people differently and more often despises them affecting their public involvement and confidence in socializing with other people. By undertaking the process, the children with a disability develop acceptance of their conditions and learn to live a normal life with their disability. Therapy helps them not to let their disability limit them from participating or doping any normal thing, just like any other person.
Adults with disabilities attribute their change of life and great change in perception of their condition to the Equine therapy. Greatly the therapy affects not only the physical and emotional perspectives of the children with a disability but also helps build their place in society. They take more charge of their life after the program whereby the constant assistance of their daily works or routines becomes less and learn to do somethings on themselves. This is enhanced through the therapy role of improving their postural appearance by reduction of pain (Batema, n.d.). The act of riding a horse helps in strengthening the sensory and motor organs of the children. The movement of the horse has a relaxing effect on the children and reduces pain to most of the children who experience pain while they sit upright. This enables the children to enjoy what they could not enjoy before and develops a lot of joy and happiness in them and their parents. Through happiness, the well-being of children and that of parents is enhanced by reducing depression and anxiety levels in family and specifically in the disabled child. Parents involved in the interview come and the therapy for changing their lives and connect with their disabled children. Before they used to have less connection, but after therapy, the children are more involved with the surroundings and react to almost every stimulus than before. The adults involved in the study attribute their ability to person various functions on their own without assistance from participating in equine therapy when they were children.
The benefits of Equine therapy also stretches to their ability in enhancing communication in children with disability and special needs. It is a critical requirement for the children, specifically those who have autism and other related conditions, to develop communication skills and ability since they do not know how to communicate with others normally. Through the therapy, however, the skills are enhanced, and the children learn and develop the different communication skills helpful in their lives.
It is, therefore, to note the numerous benefits and contributions of equine therapy to children with disabilities and special needs in aspects of improving their well-being, not only developing the various skills and stimulating movement of various body parts. The development of these skills provides children with disabilities to connect and engages with others at home and in school, contributing a lot to their studies. Studies show that children with disabilities who undertook the equine therapy sessions recorded improvements in their learning, which was made easier. Children with a disability require much attention, and through participating in equine therapy, the parents and caregivers have less work in caring for the children since they learn to do some of the activities on their own. The development of communication skills helps and improving their socialization in the community by being able to convey information to others in a way all can understand.
The most significant contribution of Equine therapy is the ability to improve the well-being of both children with disabilities and that of their parents. When a child with a disability engages with the therapy, they get relaxed and happy. Most of the parents have shown appreciation of the program and say they love it very much. The child happiness is a great source of joy to the parents and helps in reducing anxiety and depression on both of them. These two are known for severe consequences in society and individuals. Thus, therapy helps to change the living conditions of children with disability and their children through the creation of happiness and fulfillment feelings in the children.
Effects of Equine Therapy
Nevertheless, with the numerous positive contribution to the lives of the children, the therapy has some aspects of negative effects on children with disabilities. The horses which enable the equine therapy require large amounts of finances to care for and maintain. They feed on large amounts and require labor-intensive services for their conditions and care. These finances have seen more than 40 centers drop out of the services every year in the service delivery of the equine therapy. However, the therapy has a more devastating and great effect on the health of the participants (Batema, n.d.). The therapy causes hyperactivity in children, which is very bad for their health. The generation of the constant and high urge to do things creates fatigue in the muscles of the children and may also cause a fall back to their normal condition before the therapy. The fatigue causes muscles to tear down and, if not controlled, may even lead to the death of the children. Also, the therapy increases the level of aggression in children with disabilities. By changing the behavior of the participant, the therapy may end alleviating the levels of anxiety and depression in the children causing high levels of aggression in the children. The children may have a guilty conscious after the therapy by having to hate themselves more for being unable to do things on themselves as opposed to when they rode on the horse, which gave them the control of their activities. The fallback and loss of control after the therapy increases depression and anxiety in the children and affects the children’s and parents’ well-being than before the therapy session.
Children with a disability may also generate withdrawal effects of the equine therapy affecting their attention and learning problems in school learning. The withdrawal affects not only their school life but also their social life (CRC, 2015). The effects are so devastating that the children with disabilities and other special needs end up getting into a worse condition than before the therapy participation. Therefore instead of achieving the goal of improving the well-being of the children with disability, it ends, making it much deplorable.
The studies also highlight the insignificance of data in the benefits of the therapy. Not all children with the disability react and change according to the intended benefits of the therapy. While others get to improve confidence and co-ordination not all like animals and therefore their enthusiasm for riding a horse maybe not there and partaking in the horse riding may lead to more serious effects on the health and the emotion of such a child with a disability. There is a need first to access the condition and reaction of a child with a disability to animals. Post equine therapy is required to children and their parents to avoid being overwhelmed by participation of the program to changes it brings to their lives and learn how to handle these changes and conditions with their lives to avoid the effects of therapy.
Discussion
Though the therapy has been associated with numerous benefits to the well-being and behavior and emotional changes to the children with disabilities, the studies about the condition are limited and insignificant to constructively make a definitive conclusion about the health benefits and effects in children with disability. The scattered studies have greatly influenced the reviews, and this makes it lack approving of the American Medical Association. However, it is recognized by the association of physical and occupational therapists. The lack of approval makes the pracgtic3e lack much participation making it hard to finance, and from the expensive nature of maintaining the horse’s much support is required form the government to enable it to become a certified therapy for public participation.
One limiting participation of equine therapy is the discouraging news given to the parents of children with a disability, which makes them lose hope and fail to seek alternative treatments. The failure to ask for help and services gives them such a negative advantage to having desired results by undertaking the therapy at an early stage of their children’s life and condition. However, the results of numerous studies show that there are different responses of the children with disabilities to the program.
The program can influence the desired outcome of the therapy to each specific child with disability specification from their conditions. However, the relaxation and control help in changing the emotional and influencing the behavior of the children with disability. The outcome ranges from the ability to influence a postural reaction of the children with disabilities. The Riding on the back of the horse as it moves helps in relaxing and preventing pain from the children with postural problems. The children become able to sit down and also run their body parts, which somehow remain dormant when on their own without the therapy. This encourages them even to try to regain the postural ability after the therapy than before the therapy. The therapy has also been attributed to immensely to the emotional behavior of the children with disability.
Children with disabilities are significantly out of touch with the world due to a lack or inability to communicate. However, participating in the therapy sessions helps them have the feel and develop the much-required life and communication skills through their life. The therapy is hugely helpful in the development and growth of the children with disability for a better living and also enhance performance in studies by promoting understanding and attention of the student in class since most are distracted continuously to the environment.
Consequently, equine therapy has contributed immensely to the development and growth of children with disabilities and special needs. Its ability to change the behavior and emotional conditions of the children is much applauded. As an enthusiast of the practice and the love for the horse, it is essential to note the need to expose the animal to children with a disability environment to achieve the desired outcome. Proper care of the animal is also required for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the program. However, it is more critical to understand the children with disabilities to determine whether they like animals or not for participating in the therapy for a child with no interest in the animal will not generate the desired connection between the animal and the rider, which is the key to the therapy success. This would only cause more harm to the child. The state of the animal is also critical since an aggravated aggressive animal would not contribute to the success of the therapy but would only cause harm. It is also essential for a desired equine therapy enthusiast person to consider all the steps and certification before operating the center and programs and also ensure they have adequate finances for the upkeep and running of the center and plan, which is very expensive.
References
Batema, C. What is Equine Therapy? | SpecialNeeds.com. Retrieved from https://www.specialneeds.com/activities/general-special-needs/what-equine-therapy
CRC. (2015). Equine Therapy for Disabled Kids | CRC Health Group. Retrieved from https://www.crchealth.com/youth-programs/equine-therapy-disabled-kids/
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Mayer, G. (2019). Equine therapy for kids with disabilities – WHYY. Retrieved from https://whyy.org/articles/equine-therapy-for-kids-with-disabilities/
PenCRU. (2014). Equine-assisted therapy for children with disabilities?. Retrieved from http://www.pencru.org/media/universityofexeter/medicalschool/subsites/pencru/pdfs/WtE_Therapy_with_Horses_May_2014.pdf
Stebbins, T. (2012). Effects of an Equine Assisted Activities Program on Youth with Emotional Disturbance; a Pilot Study. Retrieved from https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=etdarchive
Stewart, B. Healing With the Power Of Horses; Therapists Use Riding To Help Treat Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/20/nyregion/healing-with-power-horses-therapists-use-riding-help-treat-disabilities.html
Sulkowsk, J. (2017). Health, Wellness, and Ecological Impacts of Horse Therapy for Special Need Children. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4830&context=dissertations