Effects of an Equine-Assisted Riding Program on Motor Performance, Movement Quality, and Well-Being Among Young Inmates.

Overview

• This study investigated how a one-week equine-assisted riding program affected motor skills, movement experience, and well-being in young male inmates at an open prison in Germany.
• The research found that the program improved riding abilities, promoted a positive movement experience, and enhanced overall well-being among participants.

Background and Objective

• Equine-assisted programs, which involve interacting with horses, have been known to benefit psychological and social well-being.
• Despite these reported psychosocial benefits, there is limited quantitative evidence on how such programs impact motor skills, especially in correctional settings.
• The study aimed to fill this gap by evaluating motor performance, movement quality, and well-being changes resulting from a short-term equine-assisted riding intervention among incarcerated youth.

Methods

• Participants: 10 male young inmates, average age approximately 24.5 years, at an open German prison.
• Intervention: A 5-day program incorporating:
  • Practical riding exercises focusing on skills at walk and trot.
  • Cooperative activities designed to foster teamwork and trust.
  • Guided reflection sessions encouraging emotional and cognitive processing of experiences.
• Design: Single-group pre-post study with repeated measures; no control group was included.
• Measures:
  • Riding performance: Rated by experts through standardized video analysis using German guidelines on a 10-point scale.
  • Movement quality: Assessed using a semantic differential questionnaire with bipolar adjective pairs, capturing:
    • Telic (goal-oriented) dimension – reflecting purposeful, directed movement quality.
    • Autotelic (experience-oriented) dimension – reflecting intrinsic, enjoyable movement experience.
  • Well-being: Measured with the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, a validated questionnaire evaluating subjective psychological well-being.

Results

• Riding Performance: Participants showed significant improvements in motor skills for riding at both walk and trot, with large effect sizes indicating meaningful changes.
• Movement Quality:
  • Significant improvement was found in the autotelic dimension, meaning participants experienced more positive, intrinsically rewarding movement.
  • No significant change was observed in the telic dimension, suggesting that goal-focused aspects of movement quality remained stable.
• Well-Being: There was a significant increase in self-reported psychological well-being between the start and end of the program.

Conclusions and Implications

• The study demonstrated that a brief, experience-focused equine-assisted riding program can produce measurable improvements in motor abilities, enhance the subjective quality of movement, and boost well-being in young inmates.
• These findings suggest that integrating equine-assisted activities in correctional rehabilitation may provide a complementary approach that combines physical, emotional, and social learning.
• Such programs can promote empathy, cooperation, and personal growth, potentially aiding inmate rehabilitation beyond traditional methods.
• Limitations include the small sample size and lack of a control group, indicating a need for further research with more robust designs to confirm these results.