Annie started horseback riding therapy (hippotherapy) last week. We allow James and Gracie to pick a couple activities that they want to do durring the summer so we figured, why not allow Annie to have the same luxury (and maybe have an added benefit!). Hippotherapy has been proven to improve gait and increase muscle tone but we know that Annie LOVES her animals so it's kind of a win/win.
Annie rides for about 45 minutes and look, still sitting up so straight! What a strong girl!
We've noticed that Annie doesn't hand mouth when on the horse - she will go back and forth from ringing her hands to holding on to the handle, but NO hand mouthing! Which is good, can you imagine - yuck!
Look at Annie, no saddle, just a blanket over top the horse so she can feel all the movements!
Just way too cute with her riding helmet on!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog. This is the first one I have read about how hippotherapy helps a child with rett's to keep hands out of the mouth. That is so awesome! I am an OT and also do hippotherapy. Check out my web site and blog. can I have permission to use a photo of Annie on the horse from your site, with links back to you and write a short description about how hippotherapy helps kids with retts?
Thanks,
Barbara Smith,MS.,OTR/L
HorseOT.com
HorseOT.blogspot.com
Hi Barb, absolutly you can use a pick and link back to this site. I'm not sure if all kids with rett have decreased hand mouthing but I have noticed that Annie does when she's riding. We're so glad we started hippotherapy! She has so much fun.
ReplyDelete