Hippotherapy. General information.

Hippotherapy. General information.

The term “hippotherapy” literally translates as treatment with the help of a horse.

In our country, hippotherapy is customarily called any communication of a person in need of appropriate treatment with a horse and riding it without a saddle, but this is not entirely correct.

Below we will analyze in detail each of the areas of rehabilitation with the help of a horse.

Hippotherapy is a method of psychophysical rehabilitation of a person, carried out in an individual form, riding a specially trained hippotherapy horse. Perhaps this is the most difficult and expensive of the types of rehabilitation with the help of a horse.

The training team consists of 3 people – an instructor, a horse breeder and an assistant.

Instructor – a person with a higher medical, psychological or pedagogical education who has completed specialized courses in hippotherapy. It is the instructor who is responsible for the life and health of the client during the lesson. An instructor or a doctor develops a work plan both for each lesson and for several months in advance.

Konovod – A person who leads a horse.

Assistant (assistant, insurer) – a person who provides insurance and assistance to the client.

Adaptive Riding is a method of psychophysical rehabilitation of a person, in which classes are carried out on horseback.

The team can consist of three or maybe two people – an instructor, a groom, an assistant, or an instructor and a groom. The requirements for the instructor and groom are the same as in hippotherapy.

Equestrian Disabled presented in three varieties. Since the corresponding classes are specifically sports, an instructor (trainer) with a level in equestrian sports is required to conduct them. at least 2 and (or) special education. The trainer can conduct classes both in individual and in group forms, with the help of a groom or not.

1. Special Olympics (http://www.specialolympics.org/) includes various types of equestrian programs, such as western, working trail and dressage, in which persons with intellectual disabilities without additional mental disorders can take part (people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) cannot officially compete in the Special Olympics.

An intellectual disability (ID) is a term that describes a person with limitations in cognition and other behaviors, including communication and self-care skills. According to the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disorders, a person is diagnosed with an intellectual disability when three factors are present:

1. IQ level below 70-75. 2. Deficiency in two or more adaptive behavioral traits (which affect daily life, the ability to work and play in a group, related to communication and self-care skills). 3. The violation manifested itself before the person reached the age of 18.

2. Para dressage – sports of the highest achievements for people with disorders of the musculoskeletal system and vision. The rules and requirements for athletes can be found on the FKSR website (http://fksr.ru/sport/the-paralympic-games/; http://fksr.ru/rules/the-paralympic-games/).

It should be noted that in recent years such areas of Paralympic equestrian sports as driving and even show jumping have been developing. However, these sports have not yet been represented at the Paralympics.

3. Sports LIN (persons with intellectual disabilities) – held for persons with disabilities and intellectual disabilities under the auspices of the All-Russian Federation of Sports of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (http://www.rsf-id.ru/) according to the programs: dressage (3rd level), show jumping and runs. It is a sport of the highest achievements, therefore, according to the results of the competition, athletes can receive sports categories, titles, scholarships. The federation classifies all of these types of equestrian sports as non-Paralympic (http://www.rsf-id.ru/sport/disciolini.html).

Vera Elanskaya, Head of Rehabilitation Programs MOE “Invakon”