A Pleasant Surprise

I live in an area north of Boston where there are many horse farms. I have begun contacting them to talk about starting a hippotherapy program and have been pleasantly surprised at the interest. One farm is owned by a woman who has a son with disabilities -so she has a special interest. Now the trick is to combine- a suitable horse, warm and friendly farm/owner and staff and a nice riding environment-preferably with an indoor arena and trails. It will be a challenge but well worth the time and effort to operate my own business and work closer to home. It seems that hippotherapy is growing in popularity and more and more horse farms have at least heard about it.
Barbara
HorseOT.com

Rotation while Reaching behind for toys

This little guy is reaching for the lacing shapes I put on the horse's croup. I think you can see how nicely he is rotating his trunk, strengthening his abdominal muscles and balancing at the same time. He was able to lace on the cord he is grasping in his left hand independently. A mom with a 16 month old with Down's syndrome told me that the physical therapist has noticed improved sitting balance since she started hippotherapy about 8 weeks ago. I love hearing that!

Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L
HorseOT.com

Sit-ups while on the horse

I like to ask the children to do sit-ups while the horse is either moving or halted depending on the child's balance and attention. (Some kids attend better when the horse stops). I came across this video showing a little girl doing sit-ups while also working on following directions and learning right and left.

Eyes Closed while Centering Body

I often stop when a child is sliding off the horse and ask him to sit up in the center or middle. If the child's body is starting to hang off the left side (toward me) I might ask the leader to turn the horse in a counterclockwise direction so that the child is made even more aware that the movement is making him fall off and he needs to fix his posture and get centered. I came across this mom's blog at: Mydelayeddarling.blogspot.com -showing the therapist hiding Owen's face to make him more aware of where his body is and that he needs to get back onto the center of the horse. (Owen's mom gave permission to use the photo). They love the hippotherapy at: Specialstrides.com
(Owen's mom-thanks for the photo! My employer does not allow use of client photos, so sad).
Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
HorseOT.com

Anothe beautiful day. I recommended that a little boy with cerebral palsy come in 15 minutes earlier so that I can try to get him ranged and relaxed before going on the horse. Hopefully, I will then be able to get his hips abducted to straddle the horse. I am waiting to see if this will be approved.

A little girl with Down syndrome spent the session with no crying today for the first time. I took a picture of her smiling- wish I could share it but am not allowed to show work pictures on line. She also said "oh" during the Old Mcdonald song- a big and nice surprise!

I will be having an activity in the Therapy Share column in the American Hippotherapy Association spring magazine. Yippee! I love being published.

Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
HorseOT.com

This beautiful March 8 felt like spring and we were out all day. I managed to catch on my tape recorder a little boy filling in animal sounds to Old Mcdonald and played it back for his father. They both got a kick out of that. I carry a small recorder that fits in my pocket and talk about what the kids are doing throughout my sessions. They seem to like hearing me talk about the great work they are doing and then I use it to help me write notes. My brain is fried after 5 hours of walking and talking.
My home is surrounded by horse farms and I would love to find one that has horses that would be good for hippotherapy and see if I can pay a fee for the use of the facility/horses and start a business. The idea is intimidating since I really don't have the horse background. In fact, I have only been doing this for 3 1/2 years. Does any one out there share their experiences doing this?

Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
HorseOT.com

Don't use Nylons

I finally added an airplane to the puzzle pictures I hang in the indoor arena. Now I can give directions to stop the pony in front of the airplane and hold their arms out like an airplane.
I discovered that nylons are not great for my stretchy rings activity and need to find some tights to use instead. The nylons are ripping. I guess its for the best because I can buy tights of some primary colors and they should be pretty strong. Before the stretchy rings started falling apart today, one little girl (my highest functioning in terms of motor planning and following directions) was able to put the ring over her head, pull it down to her waist, then stand up on top of the horse and step out of the ring and then kick it off the horse.
Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
HorseOT.com