| Have you or someone you know suffered a stroke or | | | | therapist. According to Jane, hippotherapy from a |
| a traumatic brain injury? Perhaps you have a child with | | | | physical therapy perspective is nothing more than using |
| cerebral palsy or autism. If that person is a close | | | | the three-dimensional movement of the horse to |
| relative or loved one, you know how debilitating such | | | | promote three-dimensional movement in the client. In |
| an event can be. It can not only rob the person of their | | | | other words, by placing a person with extra-sensory |
| independence but their self-confidence. As that person | | | | and balance deficits on a horse, that person over time |
| struggles to return to some semblance of their | | | | is able to map the horse's gait, the way the horse |
| previous life, they are constantly confronted by people | | | | shifts his body, and how the horse moves his hips |
| who tell them, "you can't do this anymore. It is too | | | | from side to side, with the eventual goal of |
| dangerous". | | | | reestablishing normalcy to the client's movement. |
| Thankfully, help is here. It is called hippotherapy and | | | | Jane commented that hippotherapy is appropriate for |
| there is a facility right here in south Florida that does it. | | | | both adults and children, but that hippotherapy for |
| (Please visit the resource box to find the name and | | | | children is more common. Of the total number of |
| website of the company.) The company is actually | | | | clients that the hippotherapy facility treats, 90% are |
| made up of two facilities, a state of the art clinic | | | | children and only about 10% are adults. |
| located in Aventura, which houses, among other things, | | | | My first session was on Friday, February 29, 2008. |
| a sensory gym and both a stationary and a dynamic | | | | Jane put me on the horse, Chocolate Chip. (For a |
| rock climbing wall. Dimensions' second facility is a horse | | | | continued discussion on what goes into the decision as |
| farm, located in Southwest Ranches. It was this facility | | | | to which horse to use for a particular client, please see |
| that I stumbled upon. It consists of about 2.5 acres, with | | | | subsequent articles in this series.) Jane placed me on |
| a stable that houses four horses and a pony, two | | | | Chocolate Chip, because she has a broader girth, |
| arenas and a track, plus a sensory course for children | | | | enabling a hippotherapy client to maintain balance |
| or adults with sensory disorders. The staff there is | | | | easier. She said that as my balance improved, she |
| terrific. I met Maurice, who maintains and prepares the | | | | would transfer me to other horses. |
| horses and one of the occupational therapists (OT). In | | | | To view photographs of the center, please visit the link |
| all, there are five occupational therapists, five speech | | | | provided in the resource box. There, you will see how |
| therapists and two physical therapists at this center. | | | | hippotherapy horses are mounted, me sitting on the |
| The staff, as a whole, appear friendly, caring and | | | | horse, and me doing some maneuvers on the horse to |
| conscientious. The same can be said of the physical | | | | allow my therapist assess my balance deficits. You |
| therapist, Jane Burrows. | | | | can also read subsequent articles in this series on |
| Jane Burrows is well qualified in hippotherapy in that | | | | hippotherapy in South Florida. |
| she has over 25 years of experience as a physical | | | | |