Equo terapia (Equo: from the Latin aequus, relating to Equus, 'horse' / Therapy: relating to therapy, which is the part of medicine that studies and puts into practice the appropriate means to relieve or cure the sick) is a therapeutic method and educational program that uses the horse within an interdisciplinary approach, in the areas of health, education and riding, seeking the biopsychosocial development of people with disabilities and/or special needs. She uses the horse as an agent to promote physical, psychological and educational gains. This activity requires the participation of the whole body, thus contributing to the development of strength, muscle tone, flexibility, relaxation, awareness of one's own body and improvement of motor coordination and balance. The interaction with the horse, including the first contacts, the act of mounting and the final handling, develops new forms of socialization, self-confidence and self-esteem according to ANDE-BRASIL (2008).
During the hippotherapy session, 3 professionals must be present: The driver is always present, and the two side guides, who in this case can be the physiotherapist, psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and/or pedagogue/psychopedagogue.
As exposed by LEAL & NATALIE (2007), in an article addressing the therapeutic gains that patients have in contact and affective exchanges with animals of the most diverse types and sizes: “Equotherapy is the only form of treatment with animals usually prescribed by doctors. (...) the treatment was recognized as a therapeutic method in Brazil by the Federal Council of Medicine in 1997”.
UZUN (2005) lists some deficiencies and diseases that improve through hippotherapy: cerebral palsy, cerebrovascular accident; delay in neuropsychomotor development; down syndrome and other syndromes; traumatic brain injury; spinal cord injury; multiple sclerosis; dysfunction in sensory integration; learning or language difficulties; behavior disorders; hyperactivity; autism; traumas; depression; stress, among others.
GUIMARÃES (1993) and WICKERT (1995) explain how hippotherapy achieves such results using the kinesiology involved in horse riding: comparing the human movements performed in its displacement (at step), we can see that this is identical to that performed by the horse , when it also moves in step. It is this movement that generates the impulses that trigger the nervous system to produce the responses that will continue the movement and allow the displacement (neurophysiological action). The one who rides the horse is forced to make thousands of body adjustments during the ride to maintain balance and motor coordination - and still receives the stimulation proper to the horse's gait (which follows three-dimensionally, just like a man's gait: forwards and backwards). , to both sides and up and down).
Hippotherapy is a treatment indicated for children mainly because of the differential that the animal brings, such as physical presence and relational possibility. Through contact with the animal, children often begin to talk, tell stories, smile, play spontaneously - the fearful, painful or boring image that the child has of what his treatment involves is broken. The animal opens the possibility of working with the child as it soon becomes an attractive and differential in the treatment being proposed. The horse works as a seduction point in relation to the child(and even to the adult) for the grandeur and power transmitted by it. Sometimes, it is through contact with an animal that the child becomes more relaxed to talk and more receptive to the guidelines or questions made by the professional who is accompanying them (SCHUBERT, 2005).
Schubert, R. – Hippotherapy and playfulness in Child Rehabilitation. Journal of Medical and Research Neurology and Psychology. Volume 4, Issue 3, United Kingdom
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