• TR is a recreational activity.

• Riders work with a trained therapeutic riding instructor to learn how to ride a horse. Other than the goal of horseback riding, there are often many benefits to TR including but not limited to improvement of cognitive, physical, emotional, and social well-being of the participant.

• Depending on the riding center and the goals and needs of the client, lessons can be a group, semi-private, or individual activity.

• Studies have found that TR led to increased empathy and a decrease in maladaptive behaviors.

  • The increase in empathy can be attributed to the bond between horse and rider. Riders often learn to care for the animal who is caring for them. Tendencies of hitting and kicking can evolve into an affectionate pat.

• Due to the group setting of many lessons, and the collaboration with the instructor and support team, many riders have improved social and interpersonal skills (Anderson, 2016, p.3344).

• Most TR lessons use an english saddle as opposed to a western saddle, a surcingle, or riding bareback. English saddles provide support to the rider, however they are far less constrictive than a western saddle. If the sensory input from an english saddle is too much for the individual, a western saddle can be used which limits the movement that the rider feels.

• Nationally, the rate of individuals with ASD who are employed is significantly lower than the rate of individuals with ASD who are capable of having a job (Barnett & Crippen, p.2).

• Prevocational programing at the barn can lead to an increase in:

Empathy - through the caring of the herd

Responsibility – following a schedule and completing various tasks throughout the day

Teamwork- barns take a team to complete daily care and upkeep of the horses and facility

Independence- while support staff is available, participants work independently on their tasks and problem solving

Skills- Horse care, yard work/ gardening, cleaning, and more

• Tasks may include: Horse care (grooming, tacking, bathing, grazing), cleaning, yard work, making feed, and helping with daily operation of the facility.

• “Prevocational programs at a barn provide the participant with self-efficacy, self-confidence, a sense of community, and tools they can use in their everyday life” – Katelyn Morrie, Director of Prevocational Programming at HorseAbility.

• A Therapy session conducted by an occupational therapist, physical therapist, or speech language pathologist which uses the horse and its natural gait as a tool for therapy.

• Instead of using a saddle, riders sit on a surcingle, which is a secured thin pad atop the horse with a handle, allowing them to feel the motion of the horse.

• When participating in a HT session, the rider’s body and muscles complete many of the same movements that they would while walking, for example they will experience the same pelvis trajectories and distorted lemniscate patterns (Garner & Rigby, 2014, p.1).

  • This movement can help strengthen muscles necessary for walking, or an improved gait, which many individual’s with ASD are known to struggle with (Garner & Rigby, 2014, p.1; Deweerdt, 2017).

• HT naturally improves the participants posture and strengthens their abdomen. This has positive effects on back relief, digestion, and breathing (Ajzenman et al., 2013, p.654).

• Studies have found that the majority of participants who participate in HT had improved social, communicative, sensory, motor, cognitive/ executive functioning, and participation skills as well as improved quality of life and physiological well-being (Srinivasan et al., 2018).

• A Therapy session conducted by a Psychologist, Physiatrist, Psychiatric Doctor or nurse, social worker, or licensed mental health professional which uses the horse as a tool for therapy.

• When humans feel different emotions they release chemo signals through odor, which although can’t be smelled by other humans, can be smelled by horses through their vomeronasal organ. As horses’ sense human emotion, they also tend to match our emotions. This emotional connection between human and horse makes a meaningful connection which leads to productive therapy sessions (Calvi et al., 2020, p.1 & PATH).

• More than half of individuals with ASD who participate in EFP are said to have improved interactions with parents, increased social interaction, reductions in externalizing problems, and improvement in autistic symptoms (Lentini & Knox, 2015, 292).

• Treatment will take place on the ground for the majority of the time; grooming, bathing, watching, and spending time with the horses; with short riding sessions as well (PATH).

• Treatment is most effective when therapy can continue at least once per week without interruption for 6 months to two years (Lentini & Knox, 2015, 292).