Equine-assisted therapy?

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Horses and us, I don't know if there are more harmonious two species then horses and humans. But horses being very royal creatures made me admire them since I was a child. Its history in Turkish culture goes far back and today, horse archery competitions are still being held by the traditional sports federation in our country, my cousin Şeyma is also one of them

Hippotherapy

The name comes from Early Greek word "Hippos" which means horse. Hippotherapy is a treatment method which uses the multi-dimensional movement of horses.
The closeness of horses to humans have been a subject for many novels and movies till this day.

Did you know that this cute and loyal animal has also been serving for the purpose of therapy from Roman times till this day?
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Horse therapy or in medical terminology "hippotherapy" is a therapy that especially modern medicine gets help from too.
Hippotherapy is being intensely used since 1950's and in the USA and Europe, it is being practiced in special hippotherapy centers under control of physiotherapists. It is also helping the development of perceptional and physical functions of mentally and physically disabled people alongside its goal of being a support for the patients receiving physiotherapy.
Experts state that Hippotherapy is helping the treatment process of mentally and physically disabled people, autistics, depressives and people who have suffered from brain trauma. It is not an alternative to the main treatment methods such as; medication, surgeries, and rehabilitation, it is described as a supportive practice for them.

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In this practice, the patients won't be thought Equestrian skills. They will be put through a program to enhance their neural functions and sensory inputs.
Then, this program will be practiced broadly that it will affect everyday activities.

The intended goals of hippotherapy

Normalize the muscle length, enhance the balance reactions, head and body control, coordination, social life -friendship- sharing.

Hippotherapy is being used for the below diseases and because a horse is used by the practitioners as a treatment method, hippotherapy is considered an assistive treatment method in medicine.

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Which diseases:

It is commonly and effectively being used for diseases like; Cerebral palsy, learning disorders, autism, spina bifida, mental retardation, hearing impairment, Dawn's syndrome, visual impairments, muscular dystrophy, mental disorders multiple sclerosis and Stroke.
In this field which I worked with pediatric patients as a volunteer in a part of my professional career, I really had a lot of fun.

And the improvements in the past years about hippotherapy in our country is making me happy. With professional teams and equipment, it is clear that it will be much more entertaining.

reference:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5175116/