ASU Research E-Magazine: Equine Equilibrium

Research-based horse therapy programs teach life skills, personal development, and riding know-how to children with special needs.

A beleaguered woman was trying to cope with an unruly adoptive daughter. The child had been horribly abused by her birth mother. The woman learned of a horse program for children with special needs.

“Do you take mean kids?” she tentatively asked during her initial call to the Hunkapi Horse Program. The program is a division of Arizona State University’s Alternative Intervention Research Clinic (ASU-AIRC).

Terra Schaad is director of the Hunkapi program. She remembers the call. “I told her we don’t turn anybody away.”

On any given day, small groups of youngsters gather at the Hunkapi facility at Roper’s Arena in Tempe. Some have immediately visible disabilities like autism or cerebral palsy. Some battle internal challenges, such as learning disabilities or emotional disorders. Some are violent and aggressive. Others are downright “mean.”

During eight weeks of equine therapy, the children learn to interact with the horses. They learn lessons in safety and grooming. Beyond the equestrian skills, they learn to control the horse, the situation and, ultimately, themselves.

Hunkapi (pronounced hoon-KAH-pee) is a Lakota Indian word meaning “I am related to everyone.” The programs focus on establishing positive, reciprocal relationships between the horse and child. The program was established in the late 1990s, after several years of research led by Debbie Crews. Crews is a faculty research associate at ASU’s Department of Kinesiology. She is the director of AIRC.

For six years, Crews studied the effect of sports and exercise on children with special needs. She studied the effect of everything from basketball, golf, swimming, and mini-trampolines, to bicycles and weightlifting.

Her work began with autistic children. It evolved to include those with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and emotional disorders, as well as low-income and other at-risk populations.

Eventually, she added horseback riding to the list of physical interventions being studied. Positive results were noted in several areas. The results varied depending upon the type of disability or special need and the type of activity. However, one outcome stood out among the rest.

“The most consistently positive intervention was the horse therapy,” says Crews, who has a bachelor’s degree in education, a master’s in exercise physiology, and a doctorate in sports psychology.

The ASU scientist thinks that horse therapy was most effective because the intervention combines movement therapy with animal therapy. “You actually have two therapies at work,” she explains.

Crews’ research findings were clear. She oversaw an eight-week horse program for children with ADHD. Among those children, horse riders showed significantly greater improvements in reaction time, movement time, self-esteem, reduced depression, and decreased anxiety when compared to non-riders. Autistic riders showed strengthened self-esteem.

The riders also demonstrated enhanced perceptual motor abilities and an improved psychological status. These positive results, combined with increased national recognition of equine therapy and the innate attraction of children to animals, prompted Crews and AIRC to establish the Hunkapi program.

“It really says a lot about the impact horses can make on kids of that population,” stresses Schaad, who is working to complete a master’s degree in counseling from ASU.

“Children seem naturally drawn to horses,” she says. “It isn’t hard to get them to do their therapy, or to complete the number of sessions that they need to complete. That’s really why the research led to such a successful outreach program. It is just so powerful, so popular, and so easy to get the kids to do.”

Animals have long been touted for their therapeutic benefits. Horses are especially effective. Crews says that horses are generally able to interpret a person’s emotions and will mirror those emotions. For example, if a participant is upset and tense, then the horse will be tense and upset. But when the child is comfortable and confident, the horse will relax and follow the child’s lead.

Like all good relationships, the bond between a horse and child must be based on mutual respect. Horses can be loyal, obedient, and good listeners. But their respect must first be earned.

Horses are immense animals. They can be intimidating. They also can be frustrating because they force the child to communicate congruently with words and body language. Hunkapi specifically uses these qualities, challenges, and opportunities to encourage change and growth in each child.

Equine therapy results in different benefits for different children, depending upon their unique needs. A child with a severe physical disability can leave her wheelchair behind. She can guide her horse through obstacles and places she otherwise could not venture alone. For the child who is emotionally at-risk, the experience can help with developing trust, love, and communication skills. For one with ADHD, the experience helps with focus.

The list of success stories for Hunkapi is long. One child with autism was able to speak for the first time after completing the program. Another child with severe trust and abandonment issues was able to bond with her horse and tell it she loves it. Another child with a severe drooling problem was able to relate to how the horses held the bits in their mouths and learned to control his own mouth.

For Crews, these positive results come with the hope that interventions such as equine therapy may some day reduce or perhaps even replace medication for these children.

“Medication often simply allows these kids to sit in the classroom at school, to just be there. It doesn’t help them excel. They might be ‘C’ students, when really they could be ‘A’ students,” she says. “The physical interventions are meant to help them actually exceed to their ability and, maybe in some cases, to reduce or eliminate medication.”

Hunkapi began as a small operation in Crews’ backyard. As it grew, it moved to progressively larger stables. What started as an eight-week program has now evolved into an open-ended program provided both on-site and on the road.

Hunkapi is funded primarily through grants and private donations. It features a mobile program that takes several horses on the road each week to the Gila River, Fort McDowell, and Salt River Indian communities. It also goes to local schools and group homes. The program has contracted a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech therapist to enhance its offerings.

A partnership with Southwest Behavioral Health Service, one of the largest providers of children’s behavioral health services in Arizona, significantly increased Hunkapi’s reach. From 1999 to present, the program has grown from 50 participants per week to nearly 300. It now serves more than 1,500 individuals across the state each year.

Hunkapi also recently established a partnership with the Phoenix Zoo Horse Hands program. The combination of current resources, staff, and programming will create a centralized, total equine program in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The joint partnership site will eventually be located on the Phoenix Zoo’s property in Papago Park.

The growth and success of the Hunkapi program has certainly validated Crews’ research. One need only watch the children and horses interact to see the benefits at work.

Just ask Schaad about that “mean” girl who ultimately joined the program.

During an initial session, the child held her horse while Schaad gave instructions to the group. The horse began licking its lips and the girl was initially fearful, worried the giant animal would bite her. Schaad explained the ways in which horses communicate with people and that this nonverbal cue meant the animal liked her, had accepted her as a leader, and would now follow her directions.

“That was one of the most magical experiences for that girl. She’d never had anybody listen to her, to want to be her partner and respect her,” Schaad explains.

“The moment we were able to explain what that horse was doing, her whole dynamic changed. She was totally soft. She was not hard and mean. She didn’t have those walls and those barriers up anymore. When you see those barriers melt, that’s when you know why you’re there.”—Jessica McCann