The Benefits of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on the Expressive Language of Toddlers who Present with Delays

A variety of evidence shows that therapies involving animals, such as dogs and horses, have benefitted individuals with special needs in many areas including physical, cognitive, emotional, and communication skills. However, there is a limited amount of empirical evidence for the benefit of therapeutic horseback riding on speech and language skills. The present study aimed to provide evidence for the efficacy of therapeutic horseback riding as a treatment for toddlers who present with language delays. The treatment group consisted of two children, ages 2;2 and 2;5, who received 6 therapeutic horseback riding lessons over the course of 4 weeks, while one also received speech therapy. The control group consisted of two children, ages 2;4 and 2;8 who did not receive therapeutic horseback riding lessons, while one received speech therapy and the other did not. MLU, Number of Total Words (NTW) and Number of Different Words (NDW) were measured through pre-and post-language samples collected in the childrens' homes. Results showed that all four children made gains, providing insufficient evidence for the efficacy of therapeutic horseback riding as a treatment for language delay. Therapeutic horseback riding may be considered as a supplemental therapy to other traditional therapies such as speech and occupational therapy, on a case by case basis. Additional research is needed regarding the efficacy of therapeutic horseback riding for the treatment of language delays.