Third Interview

Interview with Casandra Sanders-Holly

1)      Q: What is the most important Benefit a child with special needs receives through   equine assisted therapy?

A: Trunk strength and postural improvement, balance training in a multidirectional manner with a high dosage of repetitions

2)      Q: How many patients do you see a week?

A: Is it hard keeping up with all of them! Between Hippotherapy and the clinic,     we see over 80 a week. Yes!

3)      Q: What are some factors to consider when doing Hippotherapy?

A: There are some children that are not appropriate for Hippotherapy.

4)      Q: Does age of a patient matter? 

A: The minimum age is 18 months.

5)      Q: Why do you use different horses for different patients?

A: Different horses have different movement, it depends what the child needs. Size and width matter too.

6)      Q: Does age or type of a horse play a factor? 

A: We use all ages and all types! It doesn't have to be a broken down old horse. We have 4 year olds!

7)      Q: What are the effects that Hippotherapy gives to a patient? 

A: Improved trunk strength, postural alignment and balance

8)      Q: Is it better to use a bareback pad rather than a saddle? 

A: Yes the movement then can transfer directly to the patient. Sometimes a saddle can help promote a different pelvic alignment for the rider.

9)      Q: Are there different techniques that you use for each patient? Or is it just one technique for all the patients? 

A: All different techniques, they are subtle, mostly it's the different horses.

10)  Q: Can you recommend any sources or books I can use for further research? 

A: The American Hippotherapy Association website has a lot of reading resources!