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Essay On Therapeutic Riding Therapy

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I’m Hailey Fisher and becoming a therapeutic riding instructor is my dream career. I have always enjoyed the companionship of horses and I want to help people some day and I feel like this is the best way I can have both subjects in my life. In England during the early 1900’s, it was acknowledged that riding horses for people with disabilities was a beneficial form of therapy. During this time, riding therapy was for wounded soldiers and was offered at the Oxford Hospital during World War I. British physiotherapists were exploring the possibilities of riding as therapy for all types of disabilities by the 1950’s. In 1969, the British Riding for the Disabled Association was founded with the support of the Royal Family. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, Liz Hartel brought attention to riding for people with disabilities when she won the silver medal for Dressage, she was also partially…show more content…
the horse walks,, the rider is thrown off-balance, which is requiring the rider's muscles to contract and to relax in order to rebalance. This exercise reaches muscles not accessible in general physical therapy. Stretching of tight or spastic muscles is also a good benefit. Sitting on a horse requires stretching of the rider’s muscles in the thighs. The warmth of the horse may help relaxing, especially in the legs. Sitting on a horse helps to break up spasms in the lower limbs. Educational for these students is very important and Therapeutic Riding may help the student’s ability to learn. Reading is one major area Therapeutic Riding can help. Reading is a basic skill everyone needs. Before one can read, it is necessary to recognize the difference in shapes, sizes, and even colors. These can be taught more easily on horseback, as part of games and activities. Math is also a basic skill needed. Counting is learned by counting the horse's footsteps, objects around the arena, or even the horse's ears and
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