The power of the bond

When hippotherapy and neurosciences go hand in hand

Can have a healing effect? This How is possible that the relation- ship between people and horses responsible for serious neurological illnesses. Primordial to him are therapeutic practices centered on people’s different potentials awoken by drawing on their intrinsic resources to compensate for their temporary or permanent disabilities.

Hélène and Manuel’s discussions led them gradually to ask questions about the physiological and neophysiological mechanisms involved in patients’ therapy at the Equiphoria Institute. Of particular inter- est were patients with neurological problems following trauma to the brain or strokes, as well as those experienced by the autistic and those suffering from neurode- generative and neuropsychiatric illnesses. This close collaboration highlighted previously undefined connections between the benefits of the therapeutic use of horses and the world of the neurosciences. Three key points became clear: the crucial role of the patient in their treatment plan and their brains’ ability to reconstitute itself at all stages of life from early child- hood to old age; the role of the therapist and when, how and why their intervention or withdrawal is necessary; and the crucial role of horses and their enhance multisensorial abilities, which help reveal the patient’s physical, mental, spiritual and emotional states during the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Bond is no mystery for people who work with horses; they feel it intuitively. In this book the secret finally finds a scientific explanation through the dialogue between a health care professional and a disability specialist.

Hélène Viruega worked for over a decade with Amerindians, learning their ancestral medical care. With them she became an expert in horses. In 2012 after meeting a pastor cowboy and physiotherapist, she created the first Equiphoria institute, a private hippotherapy establishment, offer- ing drug-free therapy with horses for people with disabilities.

Manuel Gaviria is a rehabilitation therapist and doctor in neurosciences. He spent the first thirty years of his professional life investigating the brain mechanisms