What is Equine Therapy?

We as humans have pets to make us happier, because who doesn’t get a smile on their face when they see their adorable four-legged friend at the end of a long day? So what if your furry friend could not only make you happier as a companion, but also make you healthier mentally and physically. 

Equine therapy originated in 460BC when Hippocrates reported neurological effects in humans connected to interaction with horses.  Hundreds of years later, French neurologist Charles Chassaignac created the first study in 1875 on the benefits of riding. Equine therapy was then used for soldier rehabilitation in the U.K. during WWI.  However, it was not until a woman named Liz Hartzel, who had suffered paralysis from polio, won silver in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, that people started to take equine therapy seriously. From that time on, the medical world began to recognize the physical, emotional, and psychological benefits that equine therapy could have (Jacobson). 

Equine Therapy involves a human and horse interacting by using activities such as riding, grooming, feeding and leading the horse. Through therapy, a human-animal bond forms. Within this bond not only is the horse able to help the human, but the human is able to help the horse. In such an intimate relationship, providing a safe haven where “having someone witness their pain may bring hope through responding therapeutically to their suffering and that clients can begin to heal” (Adams et al.).  Equine therapy is usually guided by a mental health professional and horse trainer, treating many people but mainly dealing with trauma victims, as well as people with PTSD, neurological disorders, and Autism. The purpose of equine therapy is to have patients with disorders or trauma create strong skill sets and behavior, such as responsibility, self-control, confidence, and problem-solving. The therapy horse helps lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, release endorphins, as well as decrease physical pain, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness. Consistency is key, every day, every night, in every way, for a patient to get better and to have long term results (Reiss). 

There are different types of Equine therapy that may benefit different patient cases. The four types of equine therapy are Equine-Assisted Therapy, Equine-Assisted Learning, Equine-facilitated Psychotherapy, and Hippotherapy. Patients within Equine-Assisted therapy participate in activities such as therapeutic riding, ground activities, stable management, parades, and shows. These activities help rehabilitate patients back to health using medical standards. Equine-Assisted learning helps the patient focus on developing skills for social life, education, adulting, and personal goals. When using safe touch such as brushing the horse, braiding the mane, petting the horse, and hugging the horse, the physical and psychological state begins to improve for the patient (Adams et al.). As one troubled youth stated, “it made me feel more active” (Adams et al.) and “I can actually run around now” (Adams et al.).  Another youth reported, “I can actually show my real me when I am at the horse program. It [horse program] made me think smartly, helped me with courage and stuff like that” (Adams et al.). This suggests that equine therapy also helps young people find their identity. 

Equine-facilitated psychotherapy, however, deals with psychological goals for the patient. When using equine psychotherapy a licensed mental health provider must work alongside the patient and the horse. The concept of psychotherapy is to get the patient to understand and learn how to have empathy and control their anger. A child who struggles with anger management leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering (Boatwright). Jody Enget, president of PATH International stated, “If someone were working with an at-risk kid and said, ' You have anger issues,' the kid might not take any advice. But a horse will sense that client's anger and shy away. The kid will see that and say, ' What can I do, I don't want to hurt the horse.' This teaches a lesson about empathy and the effect anger can have” (Boatwright). The horse is able to do this due to them being a fight or flight animal, and not having “unconditional love” (Boatwright). 

Hippotherapy has become one of the newer forms of equine therapy. This type of therapy provides help for physical and speech ailments, working with equine movements. This treatment helps to address impairments and disabilities with neuromotor and sensory dysfunction within patients and how to improve such problems. Hippotherapy focuses on improving a rider’s posture, balance, coordination, strength, and sensorimotor systems. A horse’s rhythmic movement mimics the way in which a human pelvis moves during walking, which helps stimulate anterior and posterior movements. Due to these repetitive movements of the horse’s gait, the rider then gains stronger sensory inputs and motor responses (Lieber). 

Many studies have shown that when using these different forms of equine therapy, there are neurological benefits on the human brain. Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, Director of the Cleveland Clinic stated, “Simply petting an animal can decrease the level of the stress hormone cortisol and boost the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, resulting in lowered blood pressure and heart rate and, possibly, in an elevated mood” (Baltas). Just by simply spending time with a horse sparks a bond with them, reduces the chances of brain disease, and instead improves one’s mood and brain activity. 

Equine therapy is a safe place for a patient to heal mentally and physically, improving one’s quality of life. This human-horse bond is one in which there is no judgment, and in which  the horse is able to pick up on cues such as body language and moods unlike a human and make an intimate connection with the patient. A horse is not just your four-legged furry friend but also your four-legged furry healer. As Winston Churchill once eloquently stated, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” (Langworth).