Back to health on the back of a horse

  • 2005-02-23
  • By Dinnija Laksa
RIGA - Riding therapy has been around for a very long time, in the sense that anyone who has ever ridden a horse knows that it feels wonderful for both body and mind. But hippotherapy, as a means of helping to treat all kinds of physical disabilities, has only quite recently acquired official recognition as an effective means of therapeutic treatment.


In 1952 Lis Hartel a poliomyelitis patient won the silver medal in the dressage at the Helsinki Olympic Games even though she could only move around in a wheelchair. This incredible achievement is what first drew my attention to hippotherapy since I'm personally involved in horseback riding and, in particular, dressage.

To find out a little bit more about this unique and little-known form of therapy, I went along to the Handicapped Riding Center, which is part of the Vaivaru Rehabilitation Center in Jurmala. The center is the only one of its kind in Latvia.

When I entered the indoor-space where the therapy takes place, the first thing that really caught my attention was the sight of several children with different physical problems. Then I noticed their parents, the staff and, of course, the horses.

All of the children were on horseback, and all of them seemed excited and thrilled. But while I was standing there, I noticed a little girl enter the place with her mother. She was crying and telling her mother that she couldn't walk anymore. Then all of a sudden she fell to the ground. The poor girl wasn't able to walk without assistance. She was so small but she looked so hopeless and tired.

But then she noticed all the horses trotting around and suddenly started to smile. Excitedly, she told her mom that she really wanted to ride on the "colorful horse." Looking around at the faces of all the other children riding their horses, I quickly realized just why hippotherapy is such an attractive alternative in a country where mentally and physically handicapped children have so little recourse to hope.

How it helps

Olga Berzina is the president of the Latvian Riding Therapy Association and the owner of the Handicapped Riding Center. She is also a qualified hippotherapist. She and her colleague Elena Dozosenko helped introduce and develop the therapy in Latvia about 10 years ago.

According to Berzina, hippotherapy can benefit a variety of physical problems, such as helping to improve postural control, balance, mobility, normalizing muscle strength and tone, increasing coordination, improving respiration and speech skills and improving cognitive skills, such as attention, memory sequencing, orientation and problem-solving.

"Contact with the horse improves social and life skills, confidence and self-esteem, as well as helping to increase functioning and independence. The therapy can turn into a hobby or even into a sport for some patients, as it also allows patients to find new friends who will understand and support them", explained Berzina.

Berzina believes that hippotherapy can help in the treatment of conditions as varied as cerebral palsy, autism disorders, learning impairments, sensory integrative dysfunctions, multiple sclerosis, strokes, traumatic brain injuries, broken spines, osteoporosis, and many others.

Aigars Berzins, 15, has serious brain damage and has been paralyzed since he was involved in a tragic car crash about seven years ago. His family's life has radically changed as a result of the accident.

Aigars's mother explained more: "Right after the terrible accident, all he [Aigars] could do was just move his eyes, it was a hopeless and a very dark time. As the time went on, he got a little better after some operations and spending a long time in hospitals. But the doctors started to suggest that he go to different rehabilitation places as he still couldn't say a word or even move his little finger."

I had tears in my eyes while standing there with Aigars' mother, watching him sitting on the horse, while at the same time listening to her tragic story.

His mother continued: "We started going to different rehabilitation centers and trying different therapies and so we also tried hippotherapy, and we really liked it because we felt that it helped us. Slowly, he started to sit properly and move his arms a little bit. He also started to understand things better, but he couldn't and still can't talk."

Berzina explained how the therapy could physically benefit people like Aigars. "I would say that the actual therapy is unique because it's a therapy where the patient can receive both medical attention and have fun. The horse's movement is very familiar to normal human walking patterns and therefore the muscular normalization and coordination is solved right away. Also, patients don't believe that this is medical treatment but more an enjoyable way of spending their time, especially for kids that have been physically challenged for a long time, because they are so used to being bullied by doctors, " she said.

Horseplay

People are generally skeptical of new forms of therapy. However, for a person to try hippotherapy, a doctor must first prescribe the treatment for them.

"In our rehabilitation center, the therapy is carried out under the strict supervision of qualified specialists. The specialists involved in this therapy are called reittherapists, which is the highest level of person with a paramedical education. They should be a trained rider and have taken a special course. There are also instructors and hippotherapy assistants who have to have completed a course but they aren't allowed to work with patients continually."

The horses at the center are carefully selected, based on their characteristics, and must also undergo special training before being allowed to carry any patients.

The hippotherapy program has become so popular, however, that there is a very long waiting list for it.

"Our center is funded by the government and the amount of lessons per month is limited to only 400 per month. Thus there are many people in need waiting for their turn," Berzine explained

The biggest hindrance in developing the center is simply a lack of money. The center urgently needs a lift so that patients can be placed more easily on horseback, and we also need special saddles and other equipment. "There are so many things that could be improved in this center with a bit of financial help, but most importantly, we could improve and change many lives," Berzina said.

When you witness the therapy at work, it's a remarkably reassuring sight. Only medical experts can really say how effective hippotherapy is or isn't in treating the many diseases and conditions that hippotherapists claim it can help, but the children plainly enjoy it.

Most of the child patients believe they go to the center to play with the horses, pet them and feed them.

"Unlike in a hospital, kids come here and they can make contact with the horses and they can actually feel that the horse is walking for them, which makes them proud and for a moment not so separated from the world," Berzina said.