Why is riding beneficial for people with mental or physical challenges? Reports from physicians, therapists, and parents give testimony to riding accomplishing the following:

Psychological

• Helps the individual adjust to his/her disability
• Presents a challenge that can be mastered as well as an opportunity for competition
• Restores and enhances self-image and confidence
• Provides emotional stimulus and motivation through the responsiveness of the horse to the rider's wishes
• Teaches a skill - stable management, grooming, etc.
• Teaches anticipatory response - Rider kicks horse thus forward motion
• Enhances comprehension and memory skills
• Useful for behavior modification, especially in the area of self-control
• Development of love relationships between rider and mount
• Rider learns to recognize, accept, and cope with fear
• Enhances social relationships with peers, guides, etc.
• Fosters feelings of independence
• Develops body localization, spatial organization, directionality and laterally, visual acuity and form discrimination

Physical

• Improves balance - Movements of the horse alter the rider's center of gravity, thus forcing him/her to maintain balance
• Stimulates righting and equilibrium reflexes
• Improves posture and inhibits toxic neck reflexes
• Relaxes spastic muscles - Need for rider to concentrate on controlling his mount facilitates unconscious relaxation of muscles. Body warmth of horse acts as natural relaxant. Also rhythmical movements of horse are relaxing
• Increases range of motion - Mounting and dismounting, saddling, unsaddling, grooming. Astride position stretches tight adductors
• Builds muscle strength - riding actively uses trunk muscles. Rising trot builds lower extremity strength. Use of aids requires squeeze and release.
• Reduces and prevents contractures
• Improves cardio-vascular functioning
• Stimulates body metabolism

An important point to remember is that every rider is at a physical disadvantage with his mount. Learning to direct the animal's behaviour in spite of this can make physical disadvantages with other people seem less significant.

Finally, any therapeutic method that is purposeful and fun will be more effective than one that is boring and meaningless. The therapeutic nature of riding is hidden from the participant. It is seen as a recreational activity and so many preconceived ideas and negative attitudes towards therapy can be effectively eliminated.

In many cases the special needs rider will be more enthusiastic, will make greater effort, and will derive more benefit from this self-motivated therapy than from more conventional treatments.

Portions of the above are adapted from papers written by BEN H. NOLT, JR., PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY and CHRISTINA RAE ANFENSON.