In short: hippotherapy is not a brand, modality, or distinction from OT, PT, or Speech Therapy. Here’s the rest of the story:
Horses have been long recognized as a therapeutic presence for humans. There is evidence used to support using horses in various types of therapy even as far as Hippocrates. Hippos seem to keep coming up and we’re feeling let down about not actually seeing a hippopotamus at this point. Let me explain. ‘Hippo’ is actually the ancient Greek word for horse. That giant death marshmallow is literally a ‘river horse’. That Classics degree was bound to come in handy at some point. Moving on.
The American Hippotherapy Association (AHA) recognizes medical grade movement of the horse as having a specific positive effect onĀ attention, mobility, and speech. There’s inherent motivation for this kind of therapeutic process as well; however, it’s imperative that the application of equine movement be the absolute best treatment tool in the box at any given time. Due to the medical quality of application, AHA only provides the certification to licensed occupational, physical, and speech therapy practitioners in a rigorous 2-step content process. There are two levels of certification, basic and advanced, which can be tested following the completion of the content component. Check out their video if you’re still here with me:
