Evaluating the efficacy of hippotherapy: a promising ıntervention in rheumatology, pain medicine, and geriatrics.

Abstract

Using animals for medical care has a long history. Animals have long been recognized for their ability to improve human health and well-being throughout nations and civilizations. Animal-assisted therapy is a concept that incorporates intentional and regulated interactions between individualsand animals to achieve therapeutic aims. Hippotherapy is an animal-assisted therapy consisting of medical procedures and practices that use horses to restore and enhancephysical and mental health. The effectiveness of hippotherapy is evidenced by its ability to have a favorable influence on various domains, encompassing physical, psychosocial, and educational aspects. This multifaceted method entails the active involvement of the sensory, musculoskeletal, vestibular, and visual systems. Hippotherapy is an unconventional modality, leveraging horses' cyclic and repetitive motionsto activate the postural reflex structures of individuals. Variousstudies have mostly focusedon determining the efficacy of hippotherapyin the context of neurological conditions, neuro-rehabilitation, and psychiatric disorders. The primary objective of this study was to present the effectiveness of hippotherapy in the fields of rheumatology, pain medicine, and geriatrics. In addition, we provided a summary of the potentialunderlying mechanisms of hippotherapy. Finally, we conducted a comparison of hippotherapy and horse riding simulator interventions to provide their respective strengths and restrictions.