Hippotherapy Positional & Sensory Techniques

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Ryan Jensen. I'm the outreach manager at the National Disability Center in Park City, Utah. And I'm joined today by occupational therapist Kim Desautels, who is our program manager for the hippotherapy program. While the horse can make a big difference in the way the rider develops, you also have different manners of letting the patient ride on the horse as well. I've seen some of them riding backwards or sideways. What does that promote? Kim: Usually, we put the children in rear facing positions if we want to illicit more of an anterior pelvic tilt, which just puts their hips in a more forward flexed position to help improve their balance when they're sitting and standing. We may put them in side sitting and work on more trunk control, trunk strengthening. Ryan: Sometimes as well, you also use their vision or lack of vision to build different skills as well. I've seen one of them with blindfolds on. What does that illicit? Kim: That helps provide more sensory integration to their system, so that you're making these changes around them and underneath them and their body has to respond in different ways with their vision included in that particular example. Ryan: So, basically what you're saying, Kim, is that riding with the blindfold verses riding when you're able to see things, there's a really big difference on the inside of the individual. Kim: You're triggering, you're stimulating more systems within the individual. For example, their vestibular system in that particular case."