The revenge of Mr. Ed

[Guest guest]

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,

And no one can talk to a horse of course

That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.

-Lenny

$100,000 in Grants Awarded for Research on Equine-Assisted Therapy

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13016

Equine-assisted healing techniques for people diagnosed with

autism and cerebral palsy will be scientifically tested in 2009 by two

separate professional research teams, with the assistance of $100,000

in funding from the Horses and Humans Research Foundation.

The Horses and Humans Research Foundation was established in

2002 to fund research that will improve equine-assisted

activities/therapies best practices and to increase awareness the

benefits of these therapies. The group received applications for

funding from 16 universities. The stringent selection process resulted

in awards to Good Hope Equestrian Training Center in Miami, Fla., and

the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

The Good Hope Equestrian Training Center is a 20-acre facility

in southern Florida. Their research team will evaluate the effects of

equine interaction on 7- to 12-year-old children diagnosed with

autism. The research will focus on social function, attention, and

distractibility.

The award to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières is the

first grant awarded internationally by the Horses and Humans Research

Foundation. The university, located 85 miles northeast of Montreal,

will conduct research measuring the effect of a 10-week hippotherapy

intervention on the control of head and trunk movement of children

with cerebral palsy. Eighteen subjects and their horses will be fitted

with telemetry-recording accelerometers to document the speed and

magnitude of the subjects' upper body and head displacement during the

program and eight weeks after it has concluded.

There are nearly 750 equine-assisted activities/therapies

programs in the United States affiliated with the North American

Riding for the Handicapped Association, which include more than 40,000

participants. These represent only a portion of the programs operating

nationally and internationally.

The Foundation's first award in 2006 went to Washington

University program in occupational therapy. During a year-long study,

the team measured stability changes in children with cerebral palsy

after 12 weeks of therapeutic horseback riding. The study provided

strong evidence that hippotherapy, the use of rhythmic movements of a

horse to effect therapeutic gains, substantially improves both head

and trunk stability and upper extremity function in children with

spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. The results also indicated that

students maintained the improvements after their sessions ended.

To view the finding and reports of the 2006 Washington

University project, visit HorsesandHumans.org.

Horses and Humans Research Foundation grant awards are made

possible by the generous contributions of foundations, individuals,

businesses, and therapeutic riding programs nationwide. An anonymous

$500,000 challenge grant matches every dollar contributed to the

organization.