Increased balance, core strength, motor coordination, muscle strength, and endurance are just a few of the physical benefits horseback riding may provide. Core strength helps us maintain posture on the horse, release pressure on the lower back, and use our breath to help the horse. Motor coordination is required to use the reins, move the legs independently, do a half halt, complete a leg yield, and most other moves on horseback. Staying on the horse also requires balance.

The movement of the horse alone is enough to reap some of these benefits. Like humans, each horse has a unique gait and way of moving. In order to stay on a horse independently, we need to be able to allow our body to move with the horse. This requires core strength, muscular endurance, balance, and motor coordination. In adaptive (or therapeutic) riding, clients may not have one or all of these capabilities. That is where sidewalkers, specific horses, specific tack, and lesson plans can play a role; however, over time clients develop some or all of these capabilities. I have clients who used to lay down on the horse when they started and now sit up independently in a saddle, with stirrups. If you have been around therapeutic riding centers, I am sure that you have similar stories.

Horses move in a similar manner to humans, which is one reason they are phenomenal therapy animals. The movement of their gait replicates the movement of human walking, down to the swing of the hips instead of the knees or legs. Just by riding, clients can experience the motor sensation of how it feels to walk, whether they walk independently off the horse or not.

There are no special lessons that need to be designed or games that need to be played to help clients improve their motor coordination, core strength, or balance. Clients just need to get on the back of a horse!

Have you seen this in your own centers? Leave a comment below and let me know!