Hippotherapy

Has anybody tried hippotherapy for adhd? I took my daughter to visit a friend today who is lucky enough to live on a horse farm. To my surprise they specialize in hippotherapy and have several people they help. They are a certified insurance provider except our insurance is the one insurance that will not cover this. They have people who come with austism, brain injury, in wheel chairs, all sorts of things. The woman who started all of this (the friend's mother) has muscular dystrophy which is what inspired her. I've been looking for a place where I can send my daughter for riding lessons that has experience dealing with kids with special needs. She absolutely loves horses and belongs to a special 4H club for kids that love horses but don't own them! So, I almost feel like it was meant to be that I find this place! Has anybody tried this? What do you think? Even if we don't do hippotherapy I think we will go ahead with the lessons. I'm just wondering if it's worth paying the extra for the therapy, if maybe I can switch insurance companies at work (we used to be able to do that), and how this can really help adhd. They did say adhd is one of the conditions that most insurance companies (except mine) will cover!

Jen
I have never heard of hippotherapy for ADHD, although I know that it does seem to have benefits for kids with apraxia (they don't know where there body is in space- it's something seen with other disorders). As far as insurance, I know my won't pay for this though. If it's not a standard, proven treatment, no benefit. My insurance won't pay for chiropractic care either, something many insurances are now covering.
All that said, I've just read another article where a type of sensory integration therapy is being tested on ADHDer's. I know that the Dore Centers say they have research that shows improvement for LD and ADHDer's with their therapy, at a tune of $3000 when all is said and done, but trying to look into it further, I found a couple of message boards where people didn't get the results they hoped for. I'm still hoping though and keeping an eye on the possibilities. This therapy they claim can also work for adults, neurofeedback research shows no real effect after age 14 it appears. Good luck!

My boy (autistic) went thru hippotherapy (6 weeks, 1 evening a week approx. 25 minutes in the saddle). It had no discernable impact on him, but he did enjoy himself tremendously. We were fortunate that a special needs trust fund pays for this in my town, and although were we only permitted on slot I feel it was a good experience for him.

It also represent the first time my sister ever interacted with him in any way, other than to badger him for his "bad behavior". She has long been an enthusiast of horses, has owned several in her nearly 40 years, and agreed to be a volunteer spotter for the program for the whole semester. (Not to worry, always dependable she has reverted to her former stance in regards to him. For the most part he and I both just stay out of her road ;) )

Sometimes people with very good intentions will over state the benefits of their offering (although at $3K a pop I think that their intentions may be mixed). Sometimes therapies which have no logical reason for working can reach inside someone and leave a lasting impression. And sometimes something as simple as climbing in the saddle can have the unmitigated effect of empowering a person, making them forget for a time who they are and give them a pleasure that may not equate remediation but can be well worth the time and effort regardless.

Perhaps if the hippotherapy does not seem to be worth the substantial investment a simple round of riding opportunities (which are typically far less expensive per half hour) would give your child a chance to see if a horse between the knees has a positive effect upon him.

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." -George Eliot

Thanks Dad. I think what I am going to do is what you suggest and just start out with lessons. This place does do regular lessons as well. I've been researching a bit today online and apparently hippotherapy is not supposed to teach riding skills but therapeutic riding does. She loves horses and they put her on the horse yesterday and she did pretty good. I can see how it goes with lessons but what I'm thinking is that these people are used to dealing with special needs kids so I'm more comfortable with her getting her lessons there.

Roxie, I've been looking around a little online today. I've found several places that say hippotherapy addresses adhd and sensory integration also among many other things. However, I haven't found anything that would qualify as a scientific study to back it up. But, I haven't been looking very long either! I'm just thinking here's this thing my daughter loves and really wants to do and it could help her also!

Jen
Thanks for that info. I hope I didn't make it sound as though I didn't think that hippotherapy could help ADHD, I just have never come across it before, and I thought I had seen just about everything. I don't understand the theory behind hippotherapy, I am guessing that maybe it is similar to the theory of Dore Centers and Sensory Integration where balancing and suspension is used to work on areas of the brain such as the vestibular area. I know that the Dore Centers claim results with ADHD and LD folks, and I spoke with an Occupational Therapist that is seeing a lot of new information about using SI therapies that are helping LD kids and she herself has had success with a swing and a child with some severe behavioral issues related to his primary dx (since we work in the same district she couldn't be very specific- confidentiality). So, Iwould imagine that there is a reason to not discount the possibility. Now I'm curious, so I'm going to have to search this more.

Roxie, I knew what you meant! I had never heard of it addressing adhd either and never even considered it as a possibility!