The document discusses how hippo therapy (therapy using horses) benefits children with developmental disabilities or special needs. It provides physical, psychological, social, and educational improvements. Physically, it helps with balance, coordination, muscle symmetry, and more. Mentally, it improves self-esteem, confidence, and reduces stress. Socially, the bond with the horse helps children connect and relate to others better. Academically, activities on the horse can strengthen reading and math skills. The document shares the story of one mother who saw significant improvements in her son with Down syndrome after he participated in hippo therapy.

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Jordan Lowery
Dr. Kay Heath
English 1102 04
6 June 2014
How a Horse Can Change a Child’s Life
The number of children with developmental disabilities and special needs is
increasing every year in the United States. In fact, the number “has increased by 17% in
12 years” (Szabo). An article in USA Today stated, “[m]ore than 15% of school-age kids
— about 10 million children — had a developmental disability in 2006-08” (Szabo).
Parents of these children seek many types of treatments and therapies to improve the
quality of their children’s lives. One such therapy is hippo therapy. Hippo therapy means
“therapy with the help of a horse and is derived from the Greek word, hippos, meaning,
‘horse’” (Granados and Agis 191). There are two types of hippo therapy, classic and
modern. Both provide physical, psychological, social, and educational benefits to a
disabled child. For parents of disabled or special needs children, hippo therapy provides a
positive treatment method proven to help these children live as normal of a life as
possible.
Modern hippo therapy has developed from its classic roots in ancient Greece.
Hippo therapy dates all the way back to Hippocrates who was the first person to discuss
how helpful hippo therapy could be to a disabled person and how it could be used as a
source of rehabilitation. According to the Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine, “[t]he therapeutic value of riding horses has been known since the days of
ancient Greece” (Granados and Agis 191). Throughout the twentieth century hippo

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therapy continued to emerge as a promising alternative to traditional therapies. In 1952,
an Olympian named Liz Hartel who competed in equestrian races at the Helsinki
Olympics and won a silver medal stated, “riding had helped her recover from polio”
(“History of Hippo Therapy”). During the 1960s, “therapeutic riding centers” developed
throughout countries in Europe, Canada, and the United States. During this time, the term
hippo therapy became more widely used as the horse was seen as a tool for physical
therapy (“History of Hippo Therapy”). Physical therapists in the United States began
using the horse more in their treatments of disabled children in the 1970s, and in the late
1980s, American therapists studied hippo therapy in Germany in order to develop a
similar program for the United States (“History of Hippo Therapy”). The American
Hippo Therapy Association, now the largest hippo therapy association in the world, was
formed in the United States in 1992.
The German model of hippo therapy developed in the 1960s and still used today
is classic hippo therapy. It utilizes one rider, one therapist, and a horse. As stated in an
article in a well-respected journal, “[t]he treatment consists entirely of the horse’s
movement and the patient’s response to this movement” (Granados and Agis 192). The
horse’s movements provide positive benefits to the disabled child. Since a horse’s gait is
similar to a person’s walking gait, a disabled child may feel the physical motions of
walking without ever putting his feet on the ground by simply sitting on the horse as it
walks (Granados and Agis 192). Lori Garone, a physical therapist and board certified
clinical specialist in hippo therapy explains, “the horse’s movement… assesses a patient’s
nervous system…by the repetitive and innate rhythm of the horse’s walk” (Wallace).

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Simply by sitting astride the horse and feeling the motion of the horse as it walks
provides rehabilitation to the child.
Modern hippo therapy, the other type of hippo therapy, uses a horse’s movement
just as classic hippo therapy does, but it also includes a psychological component.
Modern hippo therapy is used more for children with neurological deficiencies rather
than physical disabilities. In their article, Granados and Agis state modern hippo therapy
“can be useful for developing attention, communication, learning, and social skills in
children with neurologic disorders” (192). Autistic children and children with Down
syndrome profit the most from this type of therapy.
Special needs and disabled children gain many physical benefits from hippo
therapy. Improved balance, coordination, head and body control, posture, and endurance
are some of the physical advantages found when a child works with a horse (Murray).
Another physical benefit is greater “muscle symmetry” (Granados and Agis 194). Many
studies have been conducted to support hippo therapy as one of the most efficient ways to
improve a child’s muscle symmetry, leading to greater stability and coordination between
the child’s upper and lower trunk. In a published study, researchers found hippo therapy
improved functional motor performance, developing greater strength and agility, weight
bearing ability, enhanced circulation, respiration, and metabolism in children (Scott).
Hippo therapy is obviously more than just riding a horse. It is a way to improve a child’s
physical quality of life.
The physical disabilities of special needs children tend to be the primary focus
when trying to provide a more normal life for these children. However, because special
needs children are “different” than their “normal” peers, they often feel left out, shunned,

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neglected, and alone. On her website, Christine Murray states psychological benefits,
“tend[] to be least addressed in traditional therapy.” Hippo therapy provides many
psychological benefits. In fact, a psychologist related “hippo therapy to the release of
endorphins” stating this therapy makes one feel good after completing a session
(Granados and Agis 194). Christine Murray further stated, “[p]atients reap many benefits
in this area as in self-esteem, confidence, and self image.” In the academic journal, Myths
and Facts…About Animal-Assisted Therapy, Dr. Edwina McConnell supports the
psychological benefits of hippo therapy. She declares, “it can help patients improve their
range of motion and strength (by brushing or petting animals), reduce stress, and reduce
the need for pain-relief medication” (McConnell). Thereby, in hippo therapy, benefits are
derived in ways other than just riding the horse. The “child-horse bond” established
during hippo therapy promotes qualities in special needs children such as mutual trust,
respect, unconditional acceptance, security, love, and affection (Granados and Agis 194).
These beneficial qualities gained from hippo therapy help transform the disabled child
from a shunned child to a more accepted one.
Hippo therapy advances the social skills of special needs children. The presence
of the horse in hippo therapy improves the children’s attitudes about themselves and
allows them to more easily relate to others (Granados and Agis 195). A special needs
pediatric therapist affirmed, “children with special needs have difficulties in forming
close friendships, but in equestrian settings the horse becomes the focus of attention”
(Granados and Agis 195). Again the “child-horse bond” allows the children to share their
“innermost feelings and thoughts with the horse” (Granados and Agis 195). This

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relationship permits them to feel they are connected to something and confirms they are
not alone.
Educational benefits in the areas of reading and math are another great aspect of
hippo therapy. Reading is incorporated in each session of therapy allowing the children to
strengthen their “capacity to learn” (Granados and Agis 195). Through the use of games
and activities, children can learn how to count, how to recognize different shapes, sizes,
and colors (Granados and Agis 195). Math skills are also worked on as the children
“count out the horse’s foot steps, the horse’s body parts, and the objects around them”
(Granados and Agis 195). The trained therapists work on addition and subtraction with
the children by the use of foam dice. Parents have reported how much hippo therapy has
improved their children in their academics.
A mother shared her experiences of the help she received for her son with Down
syndrome from a hippo therapy facility, Horse “N” Around, in Lancaster, South Carolina,
and solidified the fact hippo therapy is a useful tool in improving the quality of life for a
special needs child. The family’s insurance company would not pay for hippo therapy for
her son, so it was a great expense for the family. However, when she attended this facility
and watched her son improve physically, psychologically, socially, and educationally
while working with his horse, she stated “I always had a moment of: 'This is worth it, and
I will do whatever it takes!'" (Wallace). The horse and therapist truly made a difference in
her son’s life.
Children without special needs often live their lives without appreciation for the
normalcy found in their everyday life. They take for granted how easy it is to do simple
tasks and how to relate to others. Often they will judge and even shun children with

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disabilities or special needs. However, the powerful gentle giant of a horse accepts all
children as equal. Through the use of hippo therapy, a special needs child has the
opportunity to live a more normal life.

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Works Cited
Granados, Anabel Corral, and Inmaculada Fernández Agís. "Why Children With Special
Needs Feel Better With Hippo Therapy Sessions: A Conceptual Review." Journal
Of Alternative And Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) 17.3 (2011):
191-197. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 28 May 2014.
"History of Hippotherapy and AHA Inc. American Hippotherapy Association, Inc."
American Hippotherapy Association Inc. Word Press, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
McConnell, Edwina A. "Myths & Facts...About Animal-Assisted Therapy." Nursing 32.3
(2002): 76. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 10 June 2014.
Murray, Christine. "Why A Horse? Horse Therapy Helps Kids Cope With Disability."
Elliott Acres Therapeutic Horsemanship Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2014.
Scott, N. Special Needs Special Horses: A Guide to the Benefits of Therapeutic Riding.
Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2005. Web. 6 June 2014.
Szabo, Liz. "One in Six Children Have a Developmental Disability." usatoday.com
USA Today, n.d. Web. 05 June 2014.
Wallace, Maureen. "Hippo Therapy Treatment Helps Children with Special
Needs." Parenting RSS. She Knows Parenting, 18 June 2013. Web. 28 May 2014.