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Written by Els Smet
Posted in Rider fitness

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Effect of therapeutic riding on posture in children with CP

Children with cerebral palsy often undergo years of therapy in an attempt to normalize muscle tone and improve posture. It can be challenging for the physiotherapist to sustain the child’s interest in the therapy. With therapeutic riding, the child can be placed in specific postures on the horse to get a specific response. Furthermore, the warmth of the horse combined with the rhythmical movement of walking is thought to be useful in reducing high muscle tone and promoting relaxation. This study aims to investigate the postural changes in children with spastic cerebral palsy after participation in a therapeutic riding program.

The results show a significant improvement with regards to posture after the therapeutic riding therapy. These included, but are not limited to, decreased hyperextension of the neck, decreased postural scoliosis, and improved pelvic alignment. Furthermore, improvements were also found in muscle tone and balance as evidenced by improvement of functional skills.

Expert opinion by Els Smet

The result show that therapeutic riding could be used to improve posture in children with cerebral palsy. However, the article also states that the results were limited with children that were scared of horses.  It is possible that the technique used in this article is outdated. It was written in 1988.

> From: Bertoli, Physical Therapy 68 (1988) 1505-1512. All rights reserved to Oxford Academic. Click here for the online summary.

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