E.R. Yashina¹
I.V. Prokhorova¹
P.S. Turzin^1
1Federal State Budgetary Institution "Federal Research Center of Physical Culture and Sports",

Keywords: hippotherapy, horseback riding, therapeutic physical training, recovery, rehabilitation.

Background. Analysis of the national and foreign research literature on the subject shows that attempts to use different domestic animals for therapeutic purposes have been made from way back. Special emphasis have always been made on what is now called the equine-assisted therapy (EAT), i.e. the health improvement methods dominated by horseback riding and other interactions with horses. Curative effects of a variety of the horseback riding practices and positive effects of other activities with horses on sick and wounded people were discovered at least in the ancient times.

It was not until the last few years that a serious research of the horseback riding practices on the human body and persistent attempts to use them for therapeutic purposes were undertaken. Therapeutic horseback riding has been rapidly on the rise since then and now has evolved to a popular curative/ rehabilitation method recommendable for many health conditions. Some research findings even rate it as a unique and highly efficient method incomparable with many others.

The modern therapeutic horseback riding may provisionally be classified into hippotherapy (from the Greek term “hippos” that means “horse”) and rehabilitative riding. Therapeutic horseback riding is commonly acknowledged today as an efficient rehabilitation method applicable in cases of somatic and mental disorders and for post-traumatic treatment.

National and foreign researchers have studied the interdependent functionalities of a rider and horse as sport partners in the training and competitive processes to analyze, among other things, how well matched the physical workloads are with the functional capacities of the rider-horse sport couple in training sessions [1]; in some studies, the couple functionality was monitored by the rider/ horse heart rates in the triathlon competitions [2]. Furthermore, variations of the key biochemical and haematological rates of the rider-horse couple were analyzed at different stages of the annual training cycle and in major competitions [3]. Some foreign researchers report influences of the horse riding practices on the rider’s cardiovascular system performance and metabolism [4]. And horse riding practices were studied to identify their potential in curing and rehabilitation of a variety of diseases, including neurological and mental ones [5].

It was generally found that therapeutic horseback riding may be recommended as an efficient version of therapeutic physical training, since the key mechanisms of positive hyppotherapeutic effects on the human body was found to be largely the same as that of therapeutic physical training. Modern hyppotherapy is designed to mobilize therapeutic and disease-preventive effects of horse riding with the effects on the human body being dominated by neurohumoral mechanism and natural bodily adaptation to physical loads in the process of the relevant motor skills being developed. Special emphasis is made on the key conditions for the therapeutic horseback riding/ hippotherapeutic courses [6-10].

As things now stand, there are quite a few therapeutic horse riding centres in our country and abroad where people diagnosed with different health conditions are efficiently cured. However, we have found no comprehensive and systemic studies of the biological and psychophysiological mechanisms to explain the health improvement and rehabilitation processes activated by the horse riding practices.

Objective of the study was to perform an experimental study to obtain and analyse new data on the health improvement and rehabilitation effects on children with different health impairments of physical loads and mental/ emotional interaction with a horse in therapeutic horseback riding practices.

Methods and structure of the study. The experimental study to explore the health improvement and rehabilitation effects of therapeutic horseback riding practices on 14 underage and primary pupils of 6-7 years of age was performed at facilities of the Great International Equestrian Club «PRADAR» based at the Central Moscow Hippodrome.

Tests under the study were designed to obtain the children’s functionality data including the respiration rates and chest excursion rates, plus the timed inspiratory and expiratory capacity tests were applied. In addition, we used the families’ survey method for the purposes of comparative analysis to profile variations in the psycho-neurological statuses of the children. The experimental data were processed using traditional modern statistical processing methods.

We applied sets of specially designed individualized horseback riding exercises and games with an emphasis on the child’s direct interaction with a horse to mobilize the hearing, learning and working resources in the child with the associating positive effects on the mental and physiological status. As have been demonstrated by many study reports, the child’s physical fitness level directly correlates with the mental development level for the reason than any motor activity tends to mobilize perceptive and intellectual processes. It is a matter of common knowledge that the children showing high daily motor activity rates are generally rated with average to high physical development levels, adequate central nervous system performance and economic cardiovascular and respiratory system performance rates, reasonably high immune system stability and low respiratory sickness rates [11-13].

Furthermore, we have developed a rehabilitation horseback gymnastics program designed on the following key principles:

• The exercises will performed on an unsaddled horse;
• Coordination- and fine-motor-skills-developing exercises are to be performed on a standing horse, and the other exercises either on a standing or moving horse;
• Every horseback riding exercise is to be assisted by an instructor and horse-holder; and
• Total time of the individually rated exercises makes up 30 minutes at most.

Figure 1. Health improvement horseback riding gymnastics for underage children and primary pupils

The health improvement horseback riding gymnastics should be designed and managed as provided by the general procedural concepts of the education and training process making due allowance for the age specifics of the children’s physical fitness and mental condition.

Generally, the combined health improvement horseback riding exercises for the underage and primary pupils and their performance on the standing or moving horse may be classified as follows:  

• Balancing skills developing exercises;
• Fine motor skills developing exercises;
• Ball exercises;
• Watermill exercise;
• Coordination developing exercises;
• Respiratory system developing exercises;
• Major muscle groups developing exercises;
• Neck muscles developing exercises; and
• Upper limbs developing exercises.

Study results and discussion. Subject to the experiments and analysis were 14 children of 6 to 8 years of age, including 5 boys and 9 girls diagnosed with postural disorders and attention deficit syndrome. The children were given the above therapeutic horseback gymnastics course with the sessions scheduled three times per week from September to May, each session taking at least 30 minutes. The individualized exercises were performed on a standing or moving horse. The subjects were tested prior to and after the health improvement horseback riding gymnastics course, and the test results showed notable improvements in the children’s body functionality rates (see Table 1).

Table 1. Averaged body functionality rates of the children subject to special therapeutic horseback gymnastics course

Furthermore, the study was supported by the families’ survey to obtain data for comparative analysis of the children’s psychoneurological statuses versus those of the reference group of their peers (n=16) of 6 to 8 years of age who were given a standard therapeutic physical training course with a biological feedback (see Table 2).

Table 2. Comparative course efficiency rates for the therapeutic horseback riding course versus the standard therapeutic physical training course with biological feedback

Our analysis of the families’ survey data showed the higher improvements in the subjectively rated psychoneurological conditions of the children subject to the health improvement and rehabilitation horseback riding course versus that of the children given the standard therapeutic physical training course with a biological feedback.

The children’s horseback riding exercises were found to be more beneficial in terms of the active physical loads; fresh-air practices; vestibular apparatus training; muscular system training; vibration massage of the lower limbs; buttocks and organs of small pelvis; and mentally healthy interaction with the intelligent and kind animal.

The study on the whole have demonstrated that the proposed new health improvement and rehabilitation horseback riding gymnastics (subject to the claimed Patent for Inventory “The underage children and primary pupils' health improvement horseback riding based method” Income Reg. #58158, Reg. #2015137932 of 07.09.2015) shows the following expressed benefits:

1. Improvements in the child’s musculoskeletal system and general flexibility rates;
2. Improvements in the child’s communicative skills and the associated learning abilities;
3. General health improvements;
4. Improvements in the child’s movement coordination and spatial orientation skills.

Conclusion

1. The subject data mining and analyses showed that the available study reports provide some background information on the health improvement and rehabilitation effects of the equine-assisted therapy (EAT), albeit the research data on the integrated effects of the children’s health improvement and rehabilitation effects of the equine-assisted therapy are still insufficient.
2. We have developed and tested a practical health improvement and rehabilitation horseback riding gymnastics course for underage children and primary pupils.
3. The positive effects of the new horseback riding gymnastics course for underage children and primary pupils, as verified by variations of the relevant health test rates, were found at least comparable with those achieved when applying the standard therapeutic physical training course with a biological feedback.

References

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Corresponding author: iprohorova@mail.ru

Abstract

The article considers health improvement and rehabilitation effects of therapeutic horseback riding as verified by a variety of the relevant physical condition test rates and showing the physical training mechanism being efficient. As a result of the study, a health improvement and rehabilitation horseback riding course for underage children and primary pupils was developed and tested. The study demonstrates practical benefits of the new therapeutic horseback riding course versus the traditional therapeutic physical training courses with a biological feedback.