Hippotherapy

I was so excited about our trip to the NCEFT!!!! To date we had been focused on how the interaction with horses reflects the various dynamics of physician- patient interaction. While I am now thoroughly convinced this is a direct model, it was such a treat to see irrefutably clinical relevance!

As soon as I had a moment of time, I got on the computer to research hippotherapy centers in Orange County, California. I then called my father and recommended he do some research into it as a possible treatment for my mother's Multiple Sclerosis. She lacks internal motivation to attend physical therapy and therefore continues to be bed-ridden. In her childhood she used to ride horses and I recall her stories of summercamp and riding through the forest with her sisters. The process of hippotherapy has so many benefits: treatment, motivation, outdoor exposure, consistency, and expecially to achievers (such as my mother) a sense of accomplishment. The patient can experience legitimate progression through the various stages of hippotherapy.

In addition, I have found the site where I will be spending the majority of my volunteer hours while attending Stanford Medical School. Thanks for the introduction to NCEFT.

The NCEFT trip was a wonderful treat as we were able to witness first-hand the basics of hippotherapy in action. As someone who is generally ignorant of various modes of physical therapy, hippotherapy served as an introduction to it. I was really moved by the little girl and the young veteran who rode horses to exercise all their muscles. You could see the little girl - who had multiple sclerosis - respond to the horse both vocally and through her smiles. Viewing such an interaction convinced me of the importance of buttressing traditional allopathic healing methods (i.e. pills) with such form of vigorous physical therapy. I think that more doctors ought to see that little girl tell the horse to "please, move."