The Impact of Equine Therapy and an Audio-Visual Approach Emphasizing Rhythm and Beat Perception in Children with...

This study aims to investigate the impact of a therapeutic horse riding (HR) intervention and an audiovisual (AV) intervention comprising exposure to equine rhythm and motion on developmental parameters of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The study design was a pretest/post-test. The study took place in three locations across Ireland-St. Michael's Boys School in Mervue, Co Galway, The Hunt Museum in Limerick City, Co. Limerick, and Fettercairn Youth Horse Project in Tallaght, Co. Dublin. Eighty-three children (6-14 years) with a primary diagnosis of DCD. Children meeting the inclusion criteria were divided into three groups: HR, AV, and a control (C) group. Those in the intervention groups participated in eight 30 min HR lessons or AV screening sessions. A Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI) measured signs of depression. A Childhood Behavior CheckList (CBCL) determined any behavioral and emotional problems, while a Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) assessed the presence and extent of any social impairment. A GAITRite system provided an overall Functional Ambulation Performance (FAP) score (an automatic accumulated score of gait parameters, including gait speed, symmetry, distance, cadence, tension, support, and velocity), which was used to evaluate gait improvements. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a main effect of time on all variables. Bonferroni post hoc tests revealed that these effects were due to significant improvements in both HR and AV groups for CDI, CBCL, and SRS, and significant improvements in the HR group only for FAP. This study provides initial evidence to support the value of an equine AV perception intervention at improving developmental parameters in children with DCD and provides additional support for the benefits of therapeutic HR on social, emotional, behavioral, and gait variables in these children.