The initial assessment

When our specialist physiotherapist first meets a new client she

will try to

   -  establish whether the person is likely to benefit from

   -  establish whether there are any contra-indications to

   -  establish a baseline against which we can compare

   -  discuss with our clients how we will help them mount the

Together, all this information allows her to tailor the hippotherapy

sessions according to each client’s abilities and aspirations.

We recognise that therapeutic outcomes are only successful if

they matter to the individual concerned. For this reason, at the

end of the assessment, we work with individual clients and their

carers to negotiate goals for hippotherapy that are both meaning-

ful to our clients and realistic. Together with our clients we review

these goals, as well as their response to hippotherapy, on an ongoing basis.

The initial assessment also gives us the opportunity to explore and discuss with our clients

and/ or their carers how it is most comfortable and safe for them to mount the horse. Our

horses have been taught to stand still patiently and tolerate a whole lot of different ways of

getting on and off them. This means that even people completely new to horses can be

What is involved?

At the end of the six hippotherapy treatments,

patients receive a follow-up

assessment of up to 1.5 hours. In

this assessment the original goals

will be reviewed and the outcomes

Patients will be reassessed after 6

sessions regardless of whether

they continue to have hippotherapy

with us or not. This is, because it is

important to review and document

progress at regular intervals.

If the block of six hippotherapy sessions is to

be followed by another block of six, the follow-

up assessment will be used both to assess

the outcome of the first six sessions and to

Whenever possible, and with the agreement

of the client and his/her carers, we strive to

work in partnership with others involved in

our clients' care. This is to make sure that

everybody involved in the care and therapy

of an individual can work towards the same

goals and become more effective in

achieving them.

For this reason, we are keen to share the

findings of our assessments, goals and

progress reports with other therapists,

carers, support workers and case

managers. For confidentiality reasons, we

will only ever do this with the client's and/or

Depending on the individual's response and

level of fatigue, each hippotherapy treatment

session is between 20 and 30 minutes long

The hippotherapy sessions are tailored to

the needs of individual clients. This

means that, within the abilities of

each individual, we will work

towards maximum movement

stimulation and facilitation, but

without over-taxing a person's

physical ability or

confidence.

The hippotherapy sessions take place in a

20x40m indoor riding arena and are facilitated

by a chartered physiotherapist with specialist

post-graduate training in hippotherapy. She

works with a support worker and a horse

handler who have both received specific

For individuals from the region once-weekly

hippotherapy sessions are the most obvious

method of delivery. However, we appreciate

that people from further afield may want to

benefit from hippotherapy here at Horse

Power for Ability. Therefore, we do our best

to arrange residential courses of treatment

on an individual basis.

For this, we collaborate with a local provider

of truly accessible accommodation with

excellent facilities. Please contact us to

discuss the possibility of a residential course