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Children with cerebral palsy benefit significantly from horse-riding therapy, US researchers have found.

Preliminary findings in the research found continued improvement in the children even three months after their last riding session.

Thee Human Performance Laboratory at the Washington University School of Medicine occupational therapy department said it was in the final phases of data-gathering for the study, funded by the Horses and Humans Research Foundation's 2006 research grant.

Researchers measured the trunk and head stability of children with cerebral palsy after 12 weeks of horse-riding therapy.

Head researchers Jack Engsberg and Tim Shurtleff hypothesised that if trunk stability improved, then functional use of the arms and hands might also show improvement because the foundation (the trunk) and the visual and vestibular (balance and movement) sensory systems are more stable.

The team used a motorised barrel and video motion capture to challenge and measure the changes in motor control of the trunk that might have been learned on a horse.

"Our VMC system is the same technology that is used to animate movies and video games," says Shurtleff.

"It uses six cameras that 'see' small reflective markers on anatomical landmarks of the head, trunk, arms and hands. VMC enables very precise and objective measurement of the movement of the body and its parts."

The children were tested before and after participating in 12 weeks of horse riding sessions and then, again, after another three months of not riding horses.

The team reports that so far the group of 11 children has shown a significant difference in testing before the riding therapy began, and after its completion.

"On average they have reduced movement at the head and upper trunk by one-third of their pre-hippotherapy movement while being challenged by the reciprocating movement of the barrel," reports Shurtleff.

"We can also show that their control of their heads has improved significantly, and that the range of motion of the head (highest and lowest head angles compared to the horizontal) and their movement variability (standard deviation of all angles through the timed test) decreased significantly.

"They also do not drop their heads as much forward - another significant result."

Eight of the children have also come back for their last test (three months after therapy treatments ended).

"Preliminary results show that all these changes have persisted and remain statistically significant after the three-month washout period after they stopped riding horses," Shurtleff continues.

"We will be able to confirm this in the coming months, but the take-home message is that we think we will be able to show with objective measures that hippotherapy improves motor control of the head and trunk and that the improvement sticks with them."

Shurtleff expressed his thanks to the Horses and Humans Research Foundation for funding the project and believes that the results will provide valuable objective evidence for the efficacy of hippotherapy as well as validating this measurement methodology for future studies.

The Horses and Humans Research Foundation is a nonprofit organization that exists to facilitate universal understanding and appreciation of the significant influence of horses on humans.

Its primary goal is to support, promote and fund scientific research that explores the claimed, yet unsubstantiated benefits of equine-assisted activities, leading to the discovery of the most effective methods and techniques for conducting thousands of existing and future programmes.

The secondary goal is to educate the public - including parents, donors, insurance companies and physicians - on research findings so that horse-assisted activities programmes become more accessible to those in need.