Hippotherapy in Pediatric
Physical Therapy

Your child may be able to start attending hippotherapy in addition to their standard occupational therapy sessions if they are at least two years old. While children of all ages can benefit from adding hippotherapy to their usual occupational therapy sessions, we recommend your child be at least two years old because they need to have enough strength and balance skills to be able to safely sit on top of the horse. While hippotherapy is not dangerous, it does take some skill for children to be able to participate in it and get the most out of their sessions with the horse.

Of course, your child’s pediatric occupational therapist and horse handler will be right beside your child every step of the way as they get used to being around the horse, learn to brush and care for it, and ultimately sit on top of the horse to ride it. This is a fantastic treatment option that helps your child build their motor control skills—plus it’s a lot of fun! But if you have any questions about hippotherapy for your child, you can always give us a call at (479) 250-9838 and we’ll be happy to help.

A typical physical therapy-with-hippotherapy session runs for about 45-60 minutes. Your child will spend about 15-20 minutes of that time directly interacting with or riding the horse, always with their therapist and horse handler present. This time allows your child to still work on their standard physical therapy activities to build their gross motor skills and continue working toward their important developmental milestones.

It also allows your child to get used to their new horse friend and learn how to properly care for it. Our goal is to introduce your child to their special therapy horse gently to increase their confidence in the incredible animal that will help them achieve their developmental goals.

However, the length of your child’s appointment and how much time they spend with the horse will depend on their specific developmental needs and abilities. Your child’s pediatric physical therapist will go over everything with you at your child’s first appointment to ensure that all of your questions are answered. If you’re ready to get started, give us a call at (479) 250-9838 today, or fill out the contact form below to request more information about our services.

Hippotherapy is a proven, evidence-based tool that can complement your child’s physical therapy goals. To determine if your child can benefit from adding hippotherapy to their physical therapy treatment plan, our expert pediatric physical therapists will consult with you on your child’s needs and evaluate your child’s current ability level. We’ll use information about your child’s medical history and any other data that will allow us to determine the best course of action for your child.

Our goal is to ensure that your child can achieve their physical milestones in a fun and supportive environment, and that’s exactly what hippotherapy offers. If you’ve never ridden a horse before, you may not realize how this activity can build balance, core strength, coordination, and other physical skills. Plus, children view their therapy horse as their friend, and getting to “play” with their horse friend at each session is great motivation to keep your child working on their developmental milestones.

If you have more questions, or if you’d like to find out if pediatric physical therapy combined with hippotherapy is a good choice for your child, give us a call at (479) 250-9838 to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with our experts.

One of the first questions many parents have about pediatric therapy is, “How long is this going to take?” While we understand that you’d like to plan and prepare, it can be difficult to give you an exact timeline for your child’s treatment. This is because pediatric therapy is not a “one size fits all” treatment, and what one child needs may not be what your child needs.

Our goal is to tailor your child’s therapy plan to meet their exact needs and help them build the physical skills they need for a lifetime of successful movement and play. In general, most of our kids will attend therapy once a week. But your child’s physical therapist may adjust the frequency or duration of these sessions depending on your child’s progress. Some children reach their goals fast, and that’s great! Some children take a little more time and support, and that’s completely okay! The point is, you want your child to get the support they need so they can thrive, and that’s what we want, too.

If your child’s therapist ever has to make any adjustments to the frequency of therapy sessions or the estimate for treatment, we will of course let you know right away and answer any questions you may have.

Your child will most likely have a ton of questions once they learn that they’re going to get started doing physical therapy, and especially if they get to do hippotherapy too. The best way to explain it to them is to keep it simple. Here are some ways you can answer your child’s questions: 

• What’s physical therapy? It’s a special activity you can do to help you be able to move your body how you want to. It’s kind of like exercise, but more fun!
• What’s hippotherapy? It’s when you practice taking care of and riding horses to help you get stronger, learn to balance, and move your body more easily. 
• Why’s it called “hippo” therapy and not “horse” therapy? There’s a country called Greece, and a long time ago they called horses “hippos.” So when we say hippotherapy, we don’t mean hippos like we think of them (a hippopotamus). We’re just using the old Greek word for “horse.”
• Will the horse be friendly? Yes, the horse will be very friendly. The horse was trained to help kids, and your therapist and the horse’s helper will be there to make sure he’s happy. 

If your child has a different question you don’t know how to answer, reach out to us at (479) 250-9838 and we’ll be happy to help!

The goal of pediatric physical therapy is to help children build the skills they need to be able to move their bodies however they want to. There are many different physical skills that children develop as they grow, such as balance, coordination, and strength. If your child struggles with any of those skills, or if they are behind on their developmental milestones, physical therapy will give them the support and practice they need to achieve their goals.

By adding hippotherapy to your child’s physical therapy sessions, we give them a slightly bigger challenge and, at the same time, a bigger reward. It’s a bigger challenge because it takes patience, physical skills, and confidence to be able to care for and ride a horse (all of which our pediatric physical therapists will help your child build before they get onto the horse). But it’s also a bigger reward because children generally love getting to see, pet, brush, and ride horses. It gives them more motivation to work on their physical therapy goals because they know they’ll get to play with their new horse friend!

If you’re ready to find out if pediatric physical therapy combined with hippotherapy is a good choice for your child, give us a call at (479) 250-9838 to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with our experts.

Your role is to be a partner both for your child and their pediatric physical therapist, and we couldn’t do it without you! From your child’s initial consultation and evaluation, we rely on you for insights into your child’s behavior, strengths, limitations, and personality. We take this information and use it to create a custom therapy plan designed to help your child achieve their developmental goals.

Then once therapy starts, we’ll often give you activities you can do at home with your child between their therapy sessions to help them continue to practice their physical skills. Since your child’s sessions will typically happen once per week, your support between sessions is vital for their overall success in therapy. And by keeping us updated on your child’s progress at home, their therapist can adjust their treatment plan as needed to ensure your child gets the best results possible.

Ready to get started? Give us a call at (479) 250-9838 today to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with one of our experts, or fill out the contact form below and we’ll reach out to you as soon as possible.

Both pediatric physical therapy and pediatric occupational therapy are designed to help children build the developmental skills they need for lifelong success in play, school, and beyond. Both types of therapy focus on physical body skills, but they each have their own unique focus. 

• Pediatric physical therapy focuses on gross motor skills like balance, coordination, strength, and muscle tone. These are movements that use large muscle groups like the abdomen, legs, or arms to do things like crawl, walk, run, or jump. 
• Pediatric occupational therapy focuses on fine motor skills like self-feeding, handwriting, using buttons or zippers, and more. These are movements that use small muscle groups like fingers, hands, and wrists to do more precise actions. Occupational therapy can also help children with cognitive (thinking) skills, social skills, and behavioral skills. 

Some children may need a combination of physical and occupational therapy. Our overall goal is to ensure your child has the skills they need so they can play, take care of their own needs, learn, and anything else they want to do. Both physical therapy and occupational therapy can support that goal in different ways. 

Because we offer hippotherapy together with your child’s standard physical therapy sessions, these sessions will happen on the same days/times. We typically see children once a week, though this can change depending on your child’s specific needs. This is because pediatric therapy is not a “one size fits all” treatment, and we want to ensure that your child gets the right amount of support for their specific situation.

Our goal is to tailor your child’s therapy plan to meet their exact needs and help them build the physical skills they need for a lifetime of successful movement and play. To support this, your child’s physical therapist may adjust the frequency or duration of their sessions depending on your child’s progress. Your child may take more time than our estimate, or they may take less time. The point is, you want your child to get the support they need so they can thrive, and that’s what we want, too.

If your child’s therapist ever has to make any adjustments to the frequency of therapy sessions or the estimate for treatment, we will of course let you know right away and answer any questions you may have.

In general, most insurance companies view hippotherapy (or “equine-assisted therapy”) as a tool to support pediatric physical therapy, much like a wheelchair or other assistive device. In our experience, most of the insurance companies we work do cover hippotherapy as a treatment tool for physical therapy. However, as with anything in insurance, it all depends on your specific carrier and insurance plan. You may be able to find this easily by reviewing your insurance plan documents. If you can’t find it in your plan documents, you can always call your insurance agent to verify that hippotherapy is covered in your plan.

A simpler way to find out is to reach out to our team at (479) 250-9838. We’ve worked with many insurance companies, including Medicaid and HMOs, and we may be able to tell you right away if your plan covers hippotherapy as part of your child’s physical therapy treatment. If you have any questions, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you so that your child can experience the incredible benefits of equine-assisted pediatric physical therapy.