When I was little, Mommy asked my PTs what I can do to help my balance. A lot of them mentioned hippotherapy, therapeutic horseback riding. Horses have a rhythmic walk that can't be duplicated with machines. The movement of the horse, forces the rider to adjust and stay balanced, which helps strengthen the trunk muscles and help people balance better. Mommy filled out paperwork and put me on a wait list when I was 1 yr old than one knowing that there is a very long wait list (hippotherapy is in high demand!). After almost 2 years on the waitlist, we got in and I started riding. After only four months, I saw huge changes in my gross motor skills. I started walking on uneven surfaces without falling. I used to walk and have really bad falls (think weekly face plants on concrete sidewalks), now I am able to walk a lot safer. I also started hopping off the ground, and even walking up 2 steps without holding on to anyone or anything! This was only after four months of hippotherapy, which was right on the dot with the timeline that our PT usually observes.
One thing to note is that hippotherapy is not recognized by insurance companies (it is seen as a 'recreational' ), so we pay out of pocket for it. And upkeep of all the horses can be really costly, which is why Little Bit needs to have campaigns to raise money every year. Help support my horse, Ziggy! Little Bit Campaign
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