Hippotherapy

The American Hippotherapy Association (AHA.org) states, “Hippotherapy is how occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology professionals use evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning in the purposeful manipulation of equine movement to engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes. In conjunction with the affordances of the equine environment and other treatment strategies, hippotherapy is part of a patient’s integrated plan of care.”

An adult leads a brown horse that a child putting his hands behind his head sits on.

The benefits of Hippotherapy include:

  • Postural control and core stability

  • Gait training

  • Improved energy expenditure

  • Sensory stimulation, including vestibular, somatosensory and visual sensation

  • Improved vocalization

  • Better ability to follow directions

  • Enhanced quality of life due to increased function

Treatment sessions run from 30 to 60 minutes and are planned based on individualized goals and assessments. Physical therapists add motor tasks to the horse's movement to address each patient's needs and promote functional outcomes in skill areas related to gross motor ability, such as sitting, standing and walking. During Hippotherapy, changing rider positions, gait speed and direction of the horse address impairments, functional limitations and disabilities. The therapist, side walkers and volunteers support the patients during the session.

A child sitting on a brown horse hands an adult standing next to the horse a yellow tennis ball.

Who benefits from Hippotherapy?:

  • Abnormal muscle tone (Cerebral Palsy)

  • Impaired balance, coordination, and gait

  • Impaired sensorimotor function (Sensory Integration Disorder)

  • Postural asymmetry

  • Poor postural control

  • Delayed speech and language

  • Executive functioning

  • Motor coordination associated with autism

  • Developmental delays

  • Traumatic brain injuries

  • Neuromusculoskeletal disorders

A small child in a blue jacket sits on a horse with a woman stands next to the horse smiling at the child

Dianne Garcia, MSPT

Dianne Garcia has over 14 years of experience in Hippotherapy. She developed GallopNYC’s current hippotherapy program in 2007, where it continues to grow. In each session, Dianne brings together her experience, compassion and the unique benefits of the horse’s movement to improve the lives of children with disabilities. Over the past several years Dianne has set up clinical affiliations with three universities to further educate other therapists to the field. She works for the NYC Department of Education in the NEST program which specializes in integrating children and adolescents on the Autistic Spectrum, in all aspects of their school day.

Locations

GallopNYC offers hippotherapy sessions at GallopNYC Forest Hills in Queens and Prospect Park’s Bowling Green in Brooklyn. We are planning to expand our hippotherapy services to GallopNYC Sunrise Stables in the near future.

Physical Therapy Students

We currently have graduate student affiliations with Columbia University, College of Staten Island, Touro and York College in the fields of physical and occupational therapy.