Equine Therapy For Specially-Abled Children

Thursday, October 8, 2009, 14:31

Equine therapy has successfully been concluded as beneficial for specially-abled children and now understanding this even the trend is slowly but surely catching on in the city of Bangalore as well.

Though the equine therapy as a concept is only a few years old in India, still given a chance, Bangalore has the scope to become a major hub for horse therapy, as it is also called.

Recently, the Army Service Corps Centre (ASC) and College provided the opportunity to children with special needs by lending its horse-riding grounds and facilities for boosting the equine therapy, just before the commencement of their national polo tournament.

Pushpa Bopaiah, a therapist who has trained several physically challenged children since 2000, helped the children ride on horseback at the ASC Centre campus, while about the therapy she said, it helps strengthening body muscles, thereby boosting the confidence of physically challenged children.

"American physiotherapists have found that rhythmic movement of the horse, which is similar to human beat, the process of moving on the horse, your pelvic moves, your muscle strengthens, you gain confidence and your posture, your balance, definitely, it improves. That's what I found in the past eight years and running this therapy," said Bopaiah, a therapist.

There are many kinds of disabilities that affect a child's basic communication skills. However, Equine therapy is stated to help the physically challenged people to improve their quality of life.

Deepak, a physically challenged boy, undergoing the equine therapy said that the therapy has helped him improve his hip balance. While another physically challenged boy said that he felt some improvement in his hip balance.

Seeing the benefit of the equine therapy many parents have enrolled their children for sessions at the A.S.C Centre, where Pushpa Bopaiah would be training the specially abled children.