|
The Ethics of Hippotherapy
|
|
|
Long before horse assisted therapy became mainstream, I was involved with helping give hippotherapy to a little girl who had suffered severely crippling injuries in a car accident. At the time, we knew nothing about riding for the disabled. We were told that riding was good exercise for the wheelchair-bound child, and when she was lifted onto the back of a pony, she grinned for the duration of the ride. We had no special equipment, and no training. Hopefully, we did more good than harm. Hippotherapy has been around since the time of the Greeks, but in the last few decades, there's been an increasing interest in horse assisted therapy programs for everything from alcoholism to speech therapy.
Horses help humans. Long ago, they helped us move faster and further carrying a heavier load. When mechanical engines took over, horses gave us healthy recreation. And more recently, in addition to helping us with mobility and physical therapy, they are helping us deal with emotional problems. But is helping us overcome our problems fair to the horse? Some people don't think so. There is some controversy about the cost to the horse's own mental health. One study of horses used for therapy for mental health and physical therapy found their stress hormones actually decreased following the therapy session. This is opposite to what the researcher assumed would happen. The only exceptions were a new horse, another who was a cribber and one who had a rider with a severe mental health problem.
Related: The Benefits of Therapeutic Riding
Related: Therapeutic Riding - Freedom on Horseback
Related: Dreams to Reality - Elite Para-Equestrian
Related: Therapeutic Horseback Riding
The findings of one study however, aren't indicative of what may happen in all therapy programs and that has many people concerned about the ethics of using horses for therapy. Some call it exploitation. They believe that asking a horse to help heal humans, especially those with mental health issues, may be going beyond what would be deemed as 'use'. There is a concern for the safety of the horse in some situations, and that the horse is being used as a tool, rather than treated as a sentient being.
Over the last decade, more attention has been paid to the maintenance of therapy horses and national standards are being formed or are in place in several countries. In North America, several guidelines have been suggested such as those formed by The National Association for Equine Facilitated Wellness that asks members to "agree to abide by their "Code of Ethics for the protection of participants (human and equine), the public, and the profession" and " take steps to ensure the culture and environment at the barns in which their equine partners reside are congruent with this Code." So, more attention is being paid to the stress providing therapy puts on horses, and creating an atmosphere that is healthy for their physical needs.
Clearly, the use of horses to help humans will continue as more therapists discover new ways to provide treat their patients. After all, "There's something, about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." But, we need to ensure that we are good for both the inside, and outside of the horse.
What's your opinion of equine assisted therapy?
--
ref: https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/040915o.aspx |
|
|
|
|
 Related Horse News
|
|
Most people have heard of some form of physical therapy. Well on horseback it is often called Hippotherapy, it is a commonly used for around 100 different conditions; autism, brain injuries, spinal cord injury, visual or hearing l ...
|
|
Long before horse assisted therapy became mainstream, I was involved with helping give hippotherapy to a little girl who had suffered severely crippling injuries in a car accident. At the time, we knew nothing about riding for the ...
|
|
Horse’s and ponies have been helping humans for a very long time. In fact, they’ve been useful enough that we’ve kept them around despite their being extinct in the wild. But, in recent years, equines have become more than just be ...
|
|
With an awareness of what it takes to stay mentally health and recover from mental issues comes many, what seem like, novel approaches to treatments. One treatment is equine therapy designed to help those dealing with mental healt ...
|
|
Montessori schools are known for their child-led education programs that are a bit different than regular public schools. The focus of Montessori programs is to provide an enriched environment for discovery and hands-on learning f ...
|
|
Flirty, a Miniature Horse and service animal was possibly the first horse to fly inside the passenger compartment of a plane. Her handler, who is allergic to dogs, took Flirty on a short flight, and this short video documents the ...
|
|
Recently, the FAA announced new regulations regarding service and emotional support animals on commercial airlines flights. Part of the new regulations recognize that horses are used in this capacity and they now allow miniature h ...
|
|
More News by Winniefield Park
|
|
Who has been at the coveted number one ranking recently? Here is a look at some of the horses that have reached the number one spot and a few that are poised to grab top spot very soon. ...
|
|
Chanel the tiny horse is a dwarf. She had a hard start in life when her mother rejected her. Her poorly formed legs made it difficult to learn to walk and she had to be bottle fed every two hours. Her breeder reached out to the Pe ...
|
|
A team of volunteers is responsible for rescuing over one hundred horses in King County near Enumclaw. The horses, some in foal and with foals by their sides, were being kept in unsanitary conditions by a women well known to be a ...
|
|
The public may be more aware of the negative side of horse racing as the number of race horse deaths at Santa Anita and other tracks becomes publicized. Now, USA Today has shone an unflattering light on another dark side of the sp ...
|
|
An interesting magazine is a good way to pass the time on the bus or in a waiting room. But who wants to read those germ laden, dogeared waiting room magazines, or yesterday's newspaper? And, your Facebook Instagram feeds can get ...
|
|
A video taken in Colorado has gone viral, angering animal lovers around the world. Animal control officers are investigated after viewers reported the video showing a white pick up truck pulling a horse tied to the back bumper up ...
|
|
Similar to the average longevity of a real horse, horses on Ponybox tend to be retired in their late 20s and most often around the age of 30. But a few, like the Energizer Bunny, keep going and going well beyond the average age of ...
|
|
It's only a few moments of video but amply shows the drama that took place when an Icelandic farmer checked his horses and found them stranded by a blizzard that covered the countryside in ten feet of snow in some areas. There hor ...
|
|
|
