Hippotherapy In South Florida (3rd Article In Series)

Hippotherapy in South Florida (3rd article in series)

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This is the third article in my series on hippotherapy in South Florida. On my third visit to Dimensions: Achievements in Therapy’s location for hippotherapy in South Florida, Southwest Ranches, I was again mounted on a female hippotherapy horse, named Flash.

My hippotherapy physical therapist, Jane, worked on improving my balance and proprioception, defined as a person’s awareness of where his body is in space. Working on my balance involved, among other things, strengthening the muscles in my pelvic region. According to Jane, it is very common for someone, who has sustained a traumatic brain injury, to experience decreased strength in their pelvic region. Like others with similar injuries, my pelvis is tilted forward. By strengthening my muscles in that region, I will be able to maintain a more neutral pelvic position, which in turn, will enable me to sit more upright and facilitate my balance.

Maurice and Jane led Flash through a series of figure 8’s around a hippotherapy field, across which are laid Calvaletti poles, which look like field goal posts, only they are laying on the ground. First introduced by an Italian cavalry officer, Captain Caprilli, at the beginning of the 1800’s, Cavalletti poles are used to improve the flexibility and strength of the horse. The hippotherapy facility uses them for training horse and rider in flexibility and strength. When the horse measures and corrects his gait to step over them in a very even pattern, this is translated to the rider which produces an alerted state, strengthens the balance reactions as they react to the extra spring in the step and challenges postural alignment when combined with the small circles of our school patterns.

With me sitting on top, the hipppotherapy horse executed a series of both large and small figure 8’s. Apparently, the smaller the figure 8, the accentuated is the bend of the hippotherapy horse. I was instructed to try to feel what the hippotherapy horse’s muscles were doing at each turn. It was amazing. I could actually feel the horse’s left muscles contract as it was turning to the left and vice versa for right turns. Jane told me that this is exactly what a human’s muscles must do for them to turn.

While I was circling the field in tight formation, Jane instructed me to lift my opposite hand from the side to which I was turning and then look in that direction, twisting my torso from the waist up. This exercise is designed to further increase the informational crossover between the right and left side of the brain across the corpus callosum. (For discussion of the role of the corpus callosum, see the second article in this series at the web address given below)

Usually once during the hippotherapy session, we go over to a shaded area and perform stretches, in an effort to both strengthen and elongate the muscles in my leg. On this visit, I took the opportunity to ask Jane why my left foot goes into this kind of strained, inverted position every time I try to do something on my right side. Jane commented that certain areas of the brain receive sensory information. When those areas get overloaded, the body doesn’t know what to do with the excess information. This phenomenon is reflected in the muscle/foot spasticity I experience. “It’s like a mini-electrical storm,” she continued. “People, who haven’t had a traumatic brain injury, have the ability to dampen the sensory information, so that the brain doesn’t get overloaded. Unfortunately, traumatic brain injury victims don’t have this ability, rendering their muscle tissues hyperreactive.”

Before leaving the shaded area, Jane had me turn around on the hippotherapy horse and ride backwards. That was a trip. According to Jane, riding backwards forces you to reorganize incoming sensory information. Luckily, I adapted quite quickly to the situation and needed minimal assistance.

Cynthia Paddock Doroghazi’s publishing company, New River Publications, LLC provides the benefits of print on demand services along with a complete package of services for the author serious about making money. To learn more about our publishing services, visit

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To download more articles on hippotherapy, free articles on traumatic brain injury or a sample chapter of Cynthia’s book, visit

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