Kinesiological Description of Hippotherapy as a Treatment Modality

Hippotherapy as a treatment modality relies on patient-equine dynamic interaction to enhance physical abilities in a range of neuromuscular diseases. The modality takes advantage of external stimulations in the form of kinetic and kinematic inputs to patient’s upper body. Current practices and procedures could be greatly enhanced by an objective approach to session planning based on a predictive neuromuscular model. Individualization of the treatment program is both subject-specific and equine-specific.To this effect, kinesiological aspects of the three main upper body flexor-extensor muscles which are directly affected by this treatment modality are presented in a biomechanical model. Events and phases of this dynamic interaction are identified and described using a phase plane analysis. Physical interpretations of coefficients in the movement differential equation illustrates that the proposed approach and mathematical modeling have the potential to be tailored for various musculoskeletal or neuromuscular disorders. Validation results show that the model has the ability to simulate kinematic response and muscle forces of the patient upper body during a hippotherapy session. This predictive ability could provide the therapist with a tool to estimate the effects prior to therapy sessions and choose the most suitable combination of horse and exercises.