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

The research argues that equine (horse-riding) therapy and audio-visual methods focusing on rhythm and beat improve the developmental parameters of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Research Method

• The study was executed as a pretest/post-test design. It was conducted in three different locations across Ireland and involved 83 children aged 6-14 years, all diagnosed primarily with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
• Children fitting the inclusion criteria were divided into three groups: one receiving horse-riding therapy, one exposed to an audio-visual screening method that applied equine rhythm and movement, and a control group. The intervention was put into practice through eight 30-minute sessions either of horse riding classes or audio-visual screenings.

Tools for Evaluation

• A Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI) tool was implemented to detect signs of depression in children.
• A Childhood Behavior CheckList (CBCL) was used to identify any behavioural or emotional issues.
• The degree of social impairment was gauged using a Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS).
• The Functional Ambulation Performance (FAP) score from a GAITRite system was used to evaluate improvements in gait, encompassing parameters like speed, symmetry, distance, cadence, tension, support, and velocity of gait.

Findings

• According to the results derived from a repeated measures analysis of variance, all variables were affected by time. Through Bonferroni tests, it was identified that the significant improvements occurred in both the horse-riding and audio-visual groups in terms of depression, behavioural/emotional problems, and social impairment.
• Moreover, the horse-riding therapy group showed marked improvements in their gait (FAP score), which was not seen in the audio-visual group.

Conclusion

• This research provides initial evidence suggesting the potential value of an equine-focussed audio-visual perception intervention in enhancing developmental parameters in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
• It offers additional support for the benefits of therapeutic horse-riding intervention on variables like social relation, emotional health, behavioural development, and gait in these children.