The relationship between man and horse is very old and also very special. No other animal has influenced human history as much as the horse. Where primeval man first regarded the horse as a food source, he soon discovered its strength and speed and adopted it as a utility animal. Even more, as an emotional companion.
Sources: horseandhealth.be, ugent.be, hippocampus.nl, riding school Dennenhof Landegem
“A horse sees, hears, feels everything... the animal immediately holds up a mirror to you. This interaction is liberating”
Like the dog, the horse has increasingly adapted to humans, or has been adapted through selective breeding. The horse helped in agriculture, was a pack animal for nomad peoples and used its speed for hunting. But the horse was also a symbol of power and was used in many battles.
Fortunately, most people approach horses as an equal partner and open up to the animal. The animal is beautiful, large, strongly muscled and aesthetic, and commands respect. But those are not his only assets. Without wanting to humanize horses, one can state with scientifically substantiated certainty that they, like other social animal species, are capable of entering into 'relationships', experiencing feelings and even, in the context of social interaction, showing altruistic behavior . Also with non-species such as humans!
This urge to bond, the associated bond of trust and the typical herd behavior (protecting the foals and the weaker animals within a family structure) explains why many horses sense how to deal with children, people with disabilities or vulnerable people.
This leads us to the essence of this article, which will deal with a special, rewarding relationship between man and horse (or pony) through hippotherapy and/or equine therapy. The difference between the two therapies has to do with how one wishes to use the horse, its input and with what therapeutic intentions, physical or both physical and psychological.
Hippotherapy is a form of therapy in which the horse is used as a means – a medium – to promote or restore the physical and mental health of the person, e.g. in rehabilitation or a congenital disability, at the first serious signs of dementia, or when one is mentally troubled. The horse is central between the 'patient' and the therapist, as in a kind of triangular relationship. Regardless of whether it concerns a physical or mental therapeutic approach, it is assumed that a horse sees, hears and feels everything. And responds immediately. The animal holds up a mirror to you, as it were, whether it concerns feelings of fear, uncertainty, pain or surprise. The interaction with the horse has a liberating effect and stimulates the use of all senses, making you aware of the here and now. When it comes to people with disabilities, the term 'snoezelen' or sensory activation is sometimes used.
Both verbal and non-verbal communication play an important role in this. People with social or psychological problems can, by communicating with the horse, work on building their self-confidence, channeling their emotions and adjusting their behavioral pattern. The animal becomes a companion, it absorbs your emotions and supports you without judgment when making decisions.
Horses have a special and extensive range of exercise. The rhythmic movements in combination with the heat and scent that a horse gives off relax the body. The reflex-inhibiting position on a horse reduces spasms and tension, among other things. It improves the balance and stability of the lower back, hip, pelvis and torso.
Hippotherapy can also be used as a (re)creative activity for relaxation, in groups or individually, and for riders with or without disabilities. By interacting with the horse or pony you learn to assess your own possibilities and limits and build self-confidence, as well as taking other living beings into account.
Equitherapy is supported by therapeutic, non-conventional and complementary medical care. It is used for both physical and psychological treatments and uses the horse as a mediator and therapeutic partner. Here too it is about mirroring emotions by communicating with the horse. Therapy with horses is therefore an alternative to, or a supplement to, talking therapies. It helps with all kinds of psychological complaints such as addiction, depression, eating disorders, fear of failure and so on.
“Horses not only sense their peers, but also flawlessly detect the signals that we as humans send out”
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Certain therapeutic practices involving horses have been known since ancient times, especially among the Greeks. Healing practices with horses were somewhat forgotten in the Middle Ages, but rediscovered in the Renaissance under the impetus of scholars such as Mercuriale, Fuller and Vescosi who discussed the importance of horse riding in traditional and modern medicine from the 15th century onwards. In the 18th century, the German educator Christian Jahn would recommend horse riding for people suffering from hypochondria. The French philosopher Diderot also described the beneficial aspects of horse riding in his Encyclopedia (1751).
The first real studies on therapeutic horse riding date back to 1870 in Paris as part of a dissertation. In it, a Doctor Chassaigne concluded that horse riding had many benefits in the treatment of hemiplegia, spinal cord injury and various neurological disorders. At that time, everyone gradually became convinced that these first forms of equine therapy were beneficial for the human body, especially the circulatory system, the respiratory tract, the muscular system and the heart.
But we owe the big breakthrough to a Danish rider – Lis Hartel – who won a silver medal at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, after overcoming polio through targeted and intensive equestrian sport.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
To be safe and effective, psychotherapy with horses is carried out under the guidance of a certified therapist. If emotions or feelings of pain arise, a professional counselor must be present who can help the patient process these feelings. The therapist's job is to observe the behavior of the horse with which the patient interacts. He or she will then communicate these observations to the patient and ask questions. The goal is to change the patient's behavior so that conflicts, with themselves and with others, can be avoided in the future. Usually we always work next to the horse. The patient can only mount the horse if it fits into the therapy process.
The Greater Ghent region has a number of centers (possibly also care farms and riding schools) that are professionally committed to therapeutic horse riding for the rehabilitation and rehabilitation of people (adults and children) with a physical or psychosocial disability. As examples we quote Equidream in Beervelde, I For Horse in Gottem, Equivalencia - De Horse Garden in Destelbergen, Caballo in Zottegem and Manege Dennenhof in Landegem where we were briefly guests.
