Benefits of therapeutic riding
Psychological
- Developing self-discipline and patience
- Developing self-control, self-respect and accountability
- Reduction of introversion
- Developing the learner’s self-esteem and self-confidence
- Overcoming various phobias
- Improving self-awareness
- Improving mobility
- Improving the general sense of well-being through outdoors exercise in fresh air
Social
- Improving communication (verbal and non-verbal)
- Development of teamwork, cooperation and socialization
- Nurturing respect and love for animals
- Establishing a relationship between the therapist and the trainee
- Social interaction (eg: a) A three-way interaction between the learner, the horse and the therapist, b) An interaction between the trainee and other riders, horses, group members and visitors)
- Enriching social experiences
- Having fun
Physical
- Reduction of muscle spasticity and normalizing the muscle tone
- Improving control of the head, torso and pelvis
- Promoting proper posture
- Improving balance
- Promoting and improving gait
- Increasing the joints’ range of motion
- Inhibition of pathological patterns of movement and promotion of normal ones
- Improving movement coordination, acquiring faster reflexes
- Development of the sensory-motor and visual-motor system (sensory integration)
- Improving the cardiopulmonary function and the endurance
- Developing body symmetry
- Muscle strengthening
Educational
- Improving the reading ability
- Aiding the understanding of mathematics
- Acquiring sequence, imitation and motion planning
- Improving hand-eye coordination
- Differentiating between the significant and the insignificant stimuli
- Developing visual perception, space perception, orientation, visual sequential memory
- Improving attention span (reducing distraction)