Equine-assisted Occupational Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Effects of Hippotherapy on the Motivation and Social Interaction/Social Communication of Children With Autism

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02714101

Enrollment

Registered

2016-03-21

Start date

2012-06-30

Completion date

2013-09-30

Last updated

2016-03-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Brief summary

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have difficulty engaging in activities. This study examined the effects of equine-assisted occupational therapy for 7 children with ASD ages 4 to 8 years. A multiple baseline design was used. For each child, there were 9 to 11 baseline assessments, 9 to 12 intervention sessions, and 4 follow-up sessions.

Detailed description

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty engaging in activities. Based on the literature, the unique features of horses may be beneficial to children with ASD. There is limited research supporting the use of horses in occupational therapy interventions. This study examined the effects of equine-assisted occupational therapy for 7 children with ASD ages 4 to 8 years. A multiple baseline design was used. For each child, there were 9 to 11 baseline assessments (gross and fine motor play activities), 9 to 12 intervention sessions, and 4 follow-up sessions (gross and fine motor play activities). Intervention sessions were 40 to 60 minutes long and consisted of time spent on the horse and in horse related activities. Children were videorecorded in all conditions. Trained coders scored randomly selected segments of the video recording. Inter-rater reliability was good.

Interventions

OTHEREquine assisted occupational therapy

Intervention was one 40 to 60 minute session per week. Half of the session was spent riding a horse and half was spent doing horse related activities. Children had 9 to 12 sessions

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

3 Years to 8 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder by a multidisciplinary team, * between ages 3 and 8, * understand basic English, * willing to ride a horse, no horse riding in the past 3 months.

Exclusion criteria

* severe of repeated aggressive behaviour, * comorbidities such as deafness that would interfere with intervention.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Rater coding of engagement	One 5 minute segment per session for five months	Trained coders rated the proportion of time the child was engaged in the activities

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Rater coding of enjoyment	One 5 minute segment per session for five months	Trained coders rated the number of times the child expressed enjoyment.

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026