Equine Therapy Can Help Boost Children’s Education And Learning

Here’s a shocking fact. Many are not aware that around 32 million American adults are considered illiterate and approximately 14% of the entire adult population are unable to read and write, according to The National Institute of Literacy and the US Department of Education.

This is surprisingly unthinkable fact but is generally and sadly true especially since reading and writing are crucial life skills that are ideally learned by an average person aged 5 years old.

Shocking, but true

The Department of Education further reported that less than 21% of adults are able to read below the 5^th grade level of basic education and around 19% of high school graduates are unable to read.

Shocking and surprising as these statistics may be, there are innovative and new ways that have been developed to address these concerns and one of which is equine therapy.

Equine-assisted therapy (EAT) is not just limited to horseback riding for disabled persons; rather it is a diverse therapy program that utilizes therapy several approaches with the use of a horse to support in the treatment of patients.

Why horse therapy?

Many educational institutions are using equine-assisted learning methods to support in the education and learning process of students which are scientifically based on numerous researches purporting that riding horses significantly helps in supporting the learning processes of children with learning disabilities and those diagnosed with disorders that result in social withdrawal and lack of confidence or low self-esteem.

For instance, there are several facilities offering equine therapy near me providing valuable insights regarding the applications of horse therapy in the field of education and learning.

As a result, several schools have been using equine therapy approaches to help improve the concentration and boost the self-esteem of students, many of which are catered to those with learning disabilities, muscular dystrophy, brain trauma, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome.

One case in point involved a blind student who has long refused anyone from touching her but became calm after she rode on a therapy horse. After several riding sessions, the student became comfortable with people hugging or holding her hand.

Other cases involved children who had a problem with communicating and socializing but began to speak after they were encouraged to use words to tell the horses what to do during their riding sessions. These sessions soon resulted in enhancing their speech development and established their social skills.

The science behind EAT

EAT has been scientifically proven to promote human mental and physical health, of which horseback riding for disabled persons is just one of the many methods. There are several therapy methods that encompass EAT such as therapeutic horseback riding, hippo therapy, equine-assisted learning, equine-assisted psychotherapy, interactive vaulting, equine-assisted activities, and therapeutic carriage driving.