Is Anyone Doing Hippotherapy/Therapeutic Horseback Riding?

[BookGoddess]

There's a place here where we could go to do it. I think DD would enjoy it because she likes animals. I'm wondering if anyone here has done hippotherapy and if so what you thought of it. Did your child enjoy the experience?

Thanks!

[Guinevere]

We've been doing it now for around 14 mos., since Sophie was just under 2 yrs. She loves it; it's been a great thing for us. Not only has it helped her tremendously in building core strength to help her speech, gross, and fine motor skills, but it does fabulous things for her sensory system, too. She's a huge sensory-seeking kiddo, and being on the horse really helps her pull herself together and organize herself. So really, it's been a fantastic therapy modality for her all-around; can't recommend it enough!

Guin

[Eyelet]

My son, Jovan has been in hippotherapy for close to three years and it's been great for him. His therapist practices PECS and SL with him while on the horse and he's made many strides. He seems more grounded with people and it's a wonderful sensory release.

[ShadowLark]

I WISH! Brendon LOVES horses, but the places around here say the kids have to be four years old minimum before they can do therapeutic riding. UGH! I'm so jealous that a two year old is doing it and loving it!

[sbgrace]

We did hippotherapy for Andrew. It was terrific for his muscle tone in his trunk. I wish we could still do it but there is no longer anyone near here. I didn't notice any other effects (spectrum stuff) but I've heard of that happening.

[woodsymommyof3]

Silly question, would insurance pay for this? I would love to try it with my DS, but the cost frightens me a bit.

Thanks!
Debbi

[shelbean91]

We're just starting, but he seems to like it. As far as cost, regular insurance probably won't cover it, but our state insurance that covers out therapies pays for it, as long as we're using one of our hours, (PT, OT, ST) for it instead of office hours.

[sbgrace]

Our insurance will cover it if it's done by a PT or OT or Speech therapist...so billed as therapy. But then they only cover therapy with an autism dx. not other issues.

[Roar]

I'd highly recommend it. It was VERY helpful for our son's trunk stability and strength. As he got further along it was good for hand strength too. Also, the relationship with his volunteers was meaningful too.

Check on the cost. While insurance didn't pay for us it was not expensive like regular riding lessons because the program was heavily subsidized by donations. It wasn't free but it was very comparable to the price of other children's activities or classes and there was financial aid available too.

[gingerstar]

We did hippotherapy; it was fantastic, and it was partially covered by ins. But ours also has scholarships available - you might want to ask if that is an option, if it isn't covered by ins.

[BookGoddess]

Thanks all. For those that did it and recommend it, how often did you?

Originally Posted by Roar

Check on the cost. While insurance didn't pay for us it was not expensive like regular riding lessons because the program was heavily subsidized by donations. It wasn't free but it was very comparable to the price of other children's activities or classes and there was financial aid available too.

It would be about $25 for a session and it seems to have a lot of other fun things besides the horseback riding.

Originally Posted by gingerstar

We did hippotherapy; it was fantastic, and it was partially covered by ins. But ours also has scholarships available - you might want to ask if that is an option, if it isn't covered by ins.

I'll try to find out. Thanks.

[sbgrace]

We did it once per week. I so wish we still had it available.

[gingerstar]

Our group met every two weeks.
It really was amazing, what they accomplish with the help of a well-trained horse.

ETA: $25 seems very reasonable. We paid more than twice that. Of course, I don't know anything about your situation, or what they provide for that. Ours was an hour class run by a social worker and a horse professional.

[Guinevere]

Sophie gets her hippotherapy through ECI right now (no charge), and we hope to continue with it in the fall after she turns 3 paid through her insurance.

For the first year she rode, she went once a week for an hour and was co-treated for SLP and OT. Starting in January of this year, she's begun going twice a week for an hour each and gets speech for one session and OT for the other. It's a hike for us (50 mile round trip 2x/week) but it has been very worth it.

For whomever said they wished hippotherapy were offered at younger ages in your area, you know, NM is a really strange in some ways when it comes to therapies. In many ways, ECI here is a mess: poor, rural state = not great funding for SN services and you really have to fight for regular therapies here like SLP, OT, or PT. However, b/c we're also a sort of "crunchy" state b/c of the large number of alternative therapists who live here , ironically, I haven't had to fight to get Sophie some therapies I know are hard to come by elsewhere: cranial-sacral therapy, massage therapy, and hippotherapy. It just seems so random how different things are depending on where you live!

Guin

Guin

[DaughterOfKali]

I would love to have ds do hippotherapy. There isn't a place nearby that does it though.

[BookGoddess]

Originally Posted by gingerstar

Our group met every two weeks.
It really was amazing, what they accomplish with the help of a well-trained horse.

ETA: $25 seems very reasonable. We paid more than twice that. Of course, I don't know anything about your situation, or what they provide for that. Ours was an hour class run by a social worker and a horse professional.

I thought $25 sounded reasonable too. They are willing to negotiate if you pay for more sessions up front.

All the instructors are certified by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). They provide helmets or adaptive equipment (if needed).

It looks good. The only downside is we have to wait until the summer because they don't take kids under the age of 4. Shucks!

[PikkuMyy]

Three of my former students are very fortunate to live about 30 minutes away from a ranch that offers FREE hippotherapy on the weekends! So all of them go once a week for about 1.5 hours. They all love it.

(If anyone lives in/near Marin County, CA, PM me and I'll send you the info.)

[Eyelet]

Jovan was approved for a grant through http://www.bridgesforautismfoundation.org/ (for IL residents), which will pay for his hippotherapy for a year. It might be worth checking into a similar program in your state.

[gardenmommy]

I used to work for a PT who specialized in hippotherapy. We saw amazing results in children with a wide variety of issues, from cerebral palsy to closed head injuries to down's syndrome to rare genetic disorders. I worked for her for about 3 years, and it was by far my favorite job. I think most of the patients we saw were covered by their insurance, or received therapy through ECI-type programs.

[crafteegirl]

What kind of Special Needs?

What kind of special needs does hippotherapy help with? My cousin's daughter has Apraxia and had a lot of physical delays as well (didn't walk until 24 months with physical therapy, etc.). Could apraxia (not speaking) be helped by hippotherapy? I think there is a center locally, but I wouldn't want to suggest it unless I knew it could help...

Thanks, HB