Clearing the Next Hurdle

We know it works. Equine therapy has been proven effective with special needs children.

Research conducted by ASU’s Debbie Crews verifies that effectiveness. Crews has shown that horse programs improve reaction time and self-esteem in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The programs also help to strengthen emotional control in children with autism. They reduce depression and anxiety in children with emotional disorders.

Anecdotal evidence gained through horse programs across the country supports the ASU findings. What we don’t fully understand, yet, is why it works so well. What is it about the horse experience that is so healing?

Terra Schaad is director of ASU’s Hunkapi Horse Program. She wants the answer.

“Hippotherapy is used for children with physical disabilities,” Schaad explains. “We know that the motion of the horse helps improve a child’s muscle control and strength. But there is more to it than that, because horses have such great ability to mirror human emotions.”

Schaad hopes to clear the next hurdle in horse therapy research. She wants to carry on where Crews’ pilot data left off. Schaad plans to explore the relationships that form between the horse and the rider. For her master’s in counseling thesis, she is studying how interactions with horses impact children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD).

Children with this disorder typically come from difficult family backgrounds. They often come from foster homes. Most have not experienced an emotional bond with an adult before they reached five years of age.

As such, they fail to respond appropriately to social interactions, or to initiate or accept relationships with caregivers or others. They don’t experience loyalty or a feeling of love and attachment toward other beings. They have no sense of needing to make another person happy.

“We have seen some promising changes with the kids in our program who have attachment disorder. Just understanding what a relationship is about, mutual respect, unconditional love. That’s something a horse can help provide,” says Schaad, who has competed, judged, and trained horses for 16 years. “We’re hypothesizing that the relationship that forms between the child and the horse is a key to the success of equine therapy.”

Working with Crews, Schaad is studying three groups of children with RAD. The children range in age from 10 to 17. One group will work with the horses in a standard eight-week session. The second group will receive traditional counseling for eight weeks. The third group will receive no therapy during that time.

The researchers will conduct interviews and tests before and after the eight-week sessions. They want to explore and measure how and if the children’s perceptions of love and relationships are impacted by their interactions with the horses.

“We’ve seen many positive improvements in the lives of the children who participate in our programs,” Schaad says. “By conducting additional research, we hope to learn more about why the therapy is so successful.”—Jessica McCann