Horses are the world’s new best therapists. Truly, although they seem like mundane, unintelligent creatures, these gentle giants have a bigger insight into our minds, hearts, and soul, than trained human beings. While horses can be used as therapy animals for people of all walks of life, I will be focusing particularly on their involvement with disabled children. Although disabled people of all ages need help and therapy, the ones that are most likely to show improvement and benefit from it are children. Because their brain and body are still developing, they have a higher chance of showing improvements and drastic changes, which can provide for them a better, happier, and more independent life later on. And, with the number of disabled children being born each year steadily increasing, one might ask what options those families have, and which might be the best. 

The two most common therapy forms for disabled kids are psychotherapy, and family therapy. Psychotherapy aims to improve a child’s social, problem-solving, and self-awareness abilities. Family therapy works on building relationships, trust, and separating roles within the family. While these two forms of therapy are equally beneficial in their own rights, is there perhaps another option that combines the two together? As luck would have it, there is, hippotherapy. Hippotherapy, equine therapy, or horse therapy, is a new form of therapy involving the presence of a horse. Hippotherapy sessions often include grooming the horse, tacking, and, of course, riding the horse. Because this is such a new therapy form, the science isn’t nearly as strong as that of psycho- or family therapy, but the results are far more prominent. Hippotherapy is the one form of therapy that combines the focuses of psychotherapy and family together, and now I will prove why it is better than the other two.

While some might argue that equine therapy is dangerous, ineffective, and unregulated, let us first address why it is better than psychotherapy and physiotherapy in its own right, comparing the statistics and methods of the two practices, and then, let’s address the arguments made against equine therapy. 

First, numerical proof; after five months of each of these forms of therapy, 80% of patients in a study conducted by the National Health Institute expressed an increase in physical stability, confidence, sociality, and posture. Whereas, in a study conducted by the American Journal of Family Therapy, only 64.9% of patients noticed improvements after five months. Similarly, only 64% of patients noticed an improvement in their motor coordination after five months of psychotherapy. Evidently, the patients in hippotherapy sessions are getting much more improvement in a short amount of time. This is because children are naturally able to react better to creatures that have never done any wrong to them, than to people. While not every person acts maliciously towards a disabled child, one bad impression can leave a lasting impact, causing relationships with strangers to be harder to build. So, in the land of numbers, hippotherapy conquers psycho and family therapy. 

Next, the methods behind each of these three practices. First, hippotherapy. Horses, innately good and unbiased creatures, have the God-given skill to be able to feel our emotions and to feel our pain - emotional, psychological, and physical. Horses can always sense, without exceptions, how we are feeling on any particular day, and they understand what they need to do in order to help us. Psychotherapy and family therapy, on the other hand, are human-led. As humans, we are disconnected from each other and from ourselves; we can only try to guess how the people around us are feeling, but we are all talented at hiding our emotions. Because of this, we are not as able to tell what the person we are providing therapy to needs, and thus not able to provide them what they need.

So, equine therapy combines the benefits of family therapy and psychotherapy - building muscles in the child’s body, building concentration and focus, building relationships with the horse, and building mobility and motor skills through caring for the horse and engaging in activities while on the horse. Additionally, it is statistically more likely for an equine therapy patient to show improvement in a short time span than a psychotherapy or family therapy patient. And, the methods of equine therapy are backed by natural therapists that can always - at any time of day or night - feel how we are doing inside, without having to say, see, or hear anything. And yet, not everyone is in support of this rather novel therapy form. 

Generally, there are three main arguments made against equine therapy. Firstly, that it’s dangerous. Due to the mistreatment of green, or young, horses, especially in rodeo/violent racing situations, some people have the misconception of horses as being volatile and reckless animals. While this may be the case for some mistreated animals, those in therapy situations are quite the opposite. Horses are only allowed to engage in therapy with children if they are older, calm, and in perfect health. While the horse may fart while the child is riding it during a therapy session, that is the most amount of harm it is able to cause. These horses are all extremely special, patient horses that are able to regulate their energy and actions. Naturally, any animal will react in defense when provoked, so unless someone acts carelessly, equine therapy sessions are extremely safe. 

Safety aside, some opponents of equine therapy argue that because it is so new, and so little research has been done on it, it cannot possibly be an effective form of therapy for children. If this were the case, and there were no evidence suggesting that equine therapy was successful, truly, it would be a waste of time. It is important that disabled children get quick, efficient help, for as much progress they can make while they are young, the better. Not every child is able to accurately describe how they are feeling or how their body feels, but because a horse is a mirror into a person’s brains one of the few ways that we can truly tell how these children are doing is through a horse. This makes hippotherapy invaluable.

Finally, some argue that this form of therapy is extremely expensive. While it is undeniably true that the average equine therapy session is more expensive than a psychotherapy or family therapy session, you get what you pay for. Horses themselves are extremely costly animals, and their care is far from cheap. Barn maintenance and cleaning is an additional cost. Psychotherapy and family therapy usually takes place in an office or home setting, which is far cheaper to maintain than a group of horses. 

Thus, it is clear, that equine therapy is the most effective form of therapy for disabled kids who are able to engage in it. It is one of the few forms of therapy for kids that combine physical strengthening, mental strengthening, and emotional strengthening, into a naturally beautiful form of growth for kids with disabilities. Even if you or someone you know aren’t in particular need of this therapy form, there are still ways that you can help, and there are still ways you can get involved. First and foremost, volunteer. Most equine therapy places are in need of volunteers to help with horse and barn maintenance. This could be as simple as an hour a week to go feed horses and clean their stalls. If that’s not up your alley, you can always donate supplies or money so that they can help financially disadvantaged kids get the care and treatment that they need. Equine therapy isn’t dangerous, and it is time-tested. For those who are physically and financially able, it is the easy best choice.