Equine Therapy: Horses that Heal

For many years, horses have demonstrated humans that their presence and company cause great mood swings. However, it was only recently in the 20th century that it began to study its therapeutic function in depth and that it began to be used for the rehabilitation of different diseases that involve physical and mental disabilities. From this starting point comes what is known today as equine therapy.

Equine therapy is a complementary physical and mental therapy, whose central element is the horse. This animal manages to help disabled people to improve their quality of life. In people with motor difficulties, the movement of the equine is fundamental, since it produces sensations very similar to those that we humans feel when walking, so the patient becomes familiar with this movement again. Another application of equine therapy occurs in those young people and children who have relationship and behavior problems, such as autism, since this therapy promotes self-esteem, corrects behavior problems, anxiety and stimulates concentration and memory.

You do not need to have previous horseback riding experience and the sessions last between 30 and 45 minutes, and ideally, they should be weekly. It is based on three basic principles: transmission of body heat, critical impulses and a pattern of locomotion equivalent to human gait.

The horse is a healing being through its emotional and body language. Due to their herbivorous nature, they have developed an intense energy sensor, to prevent dangers. This makes them very sensitive beings, who relate to people from an emotional awareness: what they are afraid of, what is sensitive to their behavior, something that human beings do not always do. Therefore, those who go to this type of therapy, develop an emotional relationship with the horse that allows them to mobilize everything that distresses, paralyzes or frightens them. That makes them heal from the sensory and not from the verbal.