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Integrity: to always act with
principle
Excellence: to always strive
for improvement
Respect: for each other,
and our environment
Equality: to recognize the
best in everyone
Humor: to enjoy our work
and each other
~ Heated indoor areana
~ Dust free footing
~ Handicapped access
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Frequently Asked Questions
5. How can hippotherapy influence attention and arousal?
Before attention can occur, a person must first be aroused. Arousal, referred to as alertness, occurs on a physical and mental level and prepares a person for some form of action. Hippotherapy provides an opportunity to manipulate arousal through the movement of the horse. The integration of sensory and motor systems requires a level of brain activation that is sufficiently aroused so as to make processing more efficient. The movement of the horse can be used for this purpose: too little movement can mean a less efficient system, while too much movement may agitate or overload the patient. It is important to know that either increasing or decreasing certain stimuli can facilitate attention. For example, long slow strides may have a calming effect, while the concussive impact of a horse with straight pasterns and a choppy gait may have an arousing effect. Similarly, increasing the cadence, or varying the pattern can arouse a patient, as can a series of upward and downward transitions; conversely, decreasing the pace or lack of variation may allow the patient's attention to wander.
The multidimensional movement of the horse appears to have an organizing effect on the central nervous system, thus making sensory processing more efficient, at the same time it is a strong sensory input in the context of a meaningful activity. Motor planning is thereby enhanced by this variety of sensory stimulation while moving forward through space and requiring constant adjustments of posture.
The movement of the horse is not the only variable in hippotherapy that affects arousal: the level of activity in the clinic could be a factor, where other riders or loud music could be over stimulating. The patient's level of participation can affect arousal, where a patient is merely a passive participant, alertness may be low compared to a patient who is actively involved in an exercise such as ball skills or steering the horse through an obstacle course.
Arousal regulated = attention gained = learning can occur!
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