Facts
"If we are going to send [troops] over there, we have to take care of them when they come home and their families, too," Doyle (PA)said.
In January (08), President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, which, among other things, amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to permit a next of kin to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a member of the active-duty armed forces, National Guard or Reserve who is undergoing treatment for a serious illness or injury.
Questions & Answers
Q. What types of injuries/conditions facing veterans may be helped by equine assisted therapy and activities?
A. Amputations, Brain Injuries, Cognitive Interferences, Emotional Trauma, Family Reintegration Challenges, Hearing Impairments, Post Traumatic Stress, Stroke, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Vision Impairments all have the potential to improve as riders bond with their horse and learn to work as a team.
A certified therapeutic riding instructor gathers pertinent data and establishes a riding plan to accomplish physical and emotional goals for each veteran. Riders should undergo a stringent screening for contraindications and precautions. Frequently, poly-trauma veterans have skull defects and other wounds that might contraindicate therapeutic riding, at least initially.
Some centers are willing to have a program where the spouses, children, or other family members ride at the same time. Possibilities may include programs for veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other circumstances.
(narha)
Q. How does an injured veteran, his/her family or the family of someone who was killed in the line of military duty find out how therapeutic horseback riding might help them?
A. Ask your physician, therapist or transition assistance advisor about participating in hippotherapy, therapeutic horseback riding and equine activities. You can also contact one of the professional equine associations about a program near you. Equine Assisted Therapy and Activity Professionals and Staff as well as Health Professionals (Hippotherapists, Physical Therapists. Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Recreation therapists, and Audiologists, Psychologists and Psychiatrists, and Physicians) may be involved.
Background material on Therapeutic Riding for Injured Veterans on the value of Therapeutic Riding : (with video)
The hippotherapy concept is not new, and was used as much as 2,600 years ago as documented in 600 BCE by Orbasis of Lydia as a viable treatment for people with disabilities. It is considered highly effective as a treatment for numerous conditions, and has been extensively studied.
In fact, in the 1860's, even during the Civil War, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. used horseback riding, which he taught to all four of his children, to treat the childhood conditions of his eldest daughter, Bamie, who had a deformed spine, and his eldest son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who had severe asthma beginning at very young ages. One of the treatments for an asthmatic attack when the future President was a boy was for his father to take him for a long drive or ride, often in the middle of the night. Due to his keen interest in using activities, rather than the torturous braces, to help Bamie, Roosevelt founded the first American orthopedic hospital in New York. He worked with physicians who approved of Bamie's riding, rather than discouraging it and keeping her bedridden. However, the beneficial effects of the Roosevelts' routine were not publicized, so they are little known, even among today's therapeutic riding proponents and practitioners.
Like many of our advancements in medicine, prosthetics, and therapy, equine assisted therapy grew out of efforts to serve the battle wounded. Modern hippotherapy was.begun by a nurse in WWI who was working at Oxford Hospital. She was treating British soldiers who had been wounded in the war, and had no access to any kind of rehabilitation equipment or really any kind of equipment at all, but they did have horses. Kind of out of desperation, she put these wounded soldiers on the backs of horses for physical therapy. These programs grew out of that……
“Across the USA, therapeutic horseback riding is beginning to play a key role in the treatment of injured veterans and their families. According to a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) Press Release in April 2007, retired Navy Commander Mary Jo Beckman, a NARHA Advanced Instructor, conducted a successful pilot therapeutic riding program for injured veterans from Walter Reed Hospital using Caisson Platoon horses from Arlington Cemetery (see NARHA Horses for Heroes).
What Is Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP)?
Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is experiential psychotherapy that includes equine(s). It may include, but is not limited to, a number of mutually respectful equine activities such as handling, grooming, riding, driving, and vaulting. EFP is facilitated by a licensed, credentialed mental health professional working with an appropriately credentialed equine professional. EFP may be facilitated by a mental health professional who is dually credentialed as an equine professional." Quoted from NARHA.org.
Taken from
NARHA Horses for Heroes program:
"appreciating the power of the horse to change lives is our goal," said NARHA President Dr. Paul Spiers, and NARHA wants to provide change for these very special lives. Our service personnel have fought to preserve our freedom, and, for many, at a very dear cost. We must be certain that if our wounded service personnel and veterans need and want this kind of help, they will get the best NARHA has to offer."
Therapeutic horseback riding has been shown in several medical studies to produce multiple benefits to people of various disabilities. Therapeutic riding is recognized by the American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Physical Therapy Association. Research shows that students who participate in therapeutic riding can experience physical, emotional and mental rewards. (www.equistartheranch.org)
In professional programs:
Horses are specially chosen for their quiet and calm temperaments, which allows greater participation by all involved individuals.
Staff are caring, trained and certified. Safety is of the utmost importance. Staff are aware of current First Aid and CPR.
Programs focus on the importance of respecting others. In addition to physical effects, benefits serve to expand life skills, build self confidence and self esteem, promote integration and improve social skills.
Healing programs are geared:
- To provide a high quality therapeutic recreation experience under the direction of qualified professional personnel.
- To offer a caring and stimulating environment, which will help individuals experience physical, psychological, and social benefits using animal assisted therapy.
- To teach life skills and assist with developing the full potential of people with special needs using a farm environment and farm related activities.
- To raise awareness in the community regarding the program’s impact on the challenges faced by military families facing disability or loss of a military family member.
- To continually seek new goals for the program and the participants, creating an environment of challenge, enjoyment and achievement.
