Article Review #1 :Therapeutic Benefits of Specific Activity

Name: "Effects of hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding on postural control or balance in children with cerebral palsy: a meta-analysis"


Journal: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology


Author(s): Monika Zadnikar & Andrej Kastrin


Date Retrieved: March 16th, 2011


How Located: I utilized the Murphy Library article database search. I used the subject guide  under Therapeutic Recreation.  From there, I found this specific article using CINAHL Plus (EBSCOhost). 


What I learned: 
   This article primarily focused on hippotherapy or therapeutic horseback riding for children with cerebral palsy.  Specifically, it investigated the benefits of hippotherapy for improving postural control and balance.  Hippotherapy has been increasing in popularity over the past thirty years.  Hippotherapy works from the smooth and rhythmic pattern of movement provided by the horse's gait.  This is beneficial for the rider because it is similar to the mechanics of the human gait.  Therefore, joint stability and postural equilibrium are promoted from the seated position on the horse and repetitive pattern of movement.  


  The primary goals of hippotherapy are to improve individuals' balance, posture, function, and mobility.  The benefits of hippotherapy can be divided into two categories: physical and psychological.  The major physical benefits include improvement in strength, coordination, muscle tone, gait, joint range of movement, and sensory processing.  The primary psychological benefits include improved self-esteem, self-confidence, motivation, attention span, spatial awareness, verbal skills, and a sense of relaxation.  The article explains a study conducted with use of hippotherapy; however, the sample size was found to be too small and the diversity within the sample population was a narrow range. 


  Besides the major benefits of hippotherapy, I discovered the use of a "Brunel active balance saddle".  This does not require an actual horse and has precise movement patterns which mimic that of a horse's.  I found this to be interesting and useful if a horse is not accessible or the individual is frightened of horses.


Application of Knowledge:
  In my future as a certified recreational therapist, I would like to work with children who have disabilities and hope to be able to try hippotherapy.  I learned that you have to be certified in order to do so.  I not only learned about the wide range of benefits this activity offers for an individual, but also learned how and why it works.  Within my professional development, I hope to gain knowledge about a very wide and expansive range of activities through not only research, but personal experience.  This upcoming summer, I plan on volunteering as a rider assistant at a stable that has therapeutic horseback riding for children with disabilities. I hope to observe the leader of the therapy sessions and gain knowledge which I am able to use in my future.


Recommend this article? :
  Yes, I would recommend this article for other TR students.  The article is concise and provides the major benefits of this activity.  It also provides detailed results from a study conducted. I think that these are not as useful because they are very specific and quantitative. I think the major take- home points of the article are the benefits of hippotherapy and how hippotherapy works.  It provides a  good overview and I would recommend it to other TR students.