Use of Hippotherapy to Improve Gait Quality in a Child with Cerebral Palsy: A Case Report

Background: Hippotherapy, a form of horseback riding, has been utilized as an adjunct therapy for occupational, speech, and physical therapy for decades to help facilitate therapy goals for individuals with disabilities. Purpose: The purpose of this case report is to highlight the use of hippotherapy as an adjunct therapy intervention for short-term gait improvements for a 13-year-old girl with spastic quadriplegic CP through use of different horses, Case Description: The patient was a 13-year-old girl with spastic cerebral palsy. Her and her family’s goals were to improve her gait and balance. Intervention: She participated in hippotherapy for 30 minutes, once a week for three weeks. Each week a different horse was utilized for the treatment sessions. These sessions consisted of position changes and other activities while on the horse with the goal of facilitating postural changes and impacting her gait. Outcome: The Observational Gait Scale (OGS) was completed before and after the three hippotherapy sessions. Additionally, she was videoed with the app Coach’s Eye, to further analyze her gait. Discussion: The OGS reflected short-term changes in her gait, consisting of foot-flat at initial contact, and heel to toe roll over at midstance. She had larger step length, increased cadence, and increased postural control, which was not reflected in the OGS. The changes noted throughout her treatment sessions appeared to change based on the horse utilized.