Quest has just returned from the International Pediatrics Physical Therapy Annual Conference where we presented "Case Report:  The Effect of Hippotherapy on Perceived Self-Competence, Social Acceptance, and Functional Gross Motor Development in a Young Girl with Cerebral Palsy." 

A 6-year-old girl with mild ataxic cerebral palsy presented with deficits in muscle strength, endurance, postural alignment, motor control, and sensory-integrative skills.  These impairments caused her to have a variety of functional limitations.  Hippotherapy was implemented 2 times a week for 8 weeks. Following treatment, improvements were noted in perceived self-competence and social acceptance, and functional gross motor skills, with ongoing improvements continuing into the follow-up, 2 months after intervention ended.  This suggests that hippotherapy not only influenced gross motor skills, but also improved her perceived self-competence, which may be linked to participation and quality of life.

This study is being submitted for publication to quality, peer reviewed journals.