Mumtaz Chohan Gani Biokineticist: Therapy with horses

I was recently invited to an open day by Tumanako Physiotherapy. The brief said that the physiotherapist, Samantha Scheepers was the only physio that does actual physiotherapy on a horse!

This immediately drew my attention and I RSVP'ed and let all patients that I thought would benefit, know about the event.
I was joined by a patient of mine, my gorgeous little boy Divan, and his parents, on the day. We were so taken by what they had to say as well as by what we saw.

The therapy is used for kids with various problems, amongst these are cerebral palsy, down syndrome and kids with low muscle tone.

There are various ways that this therapy works. One is the connection between the horse and the child. The therapists explained to us, that until you make that connection with a horse (which comes from working closely with a horse) one will not be able to understand. Nonetheless a connection is made and trust is built based on this connection.
The second is that the gait of the horse mimics our gait pattern. Hence when the child is placed on the horse, their hips are moving as if they were doing the walking.
Another way that this therapy works is that when sitting on the ball, ones core is constantly activated.
Various different positions and mechanisms are used, depending on what the condition and goal of therapy is.

All in all it was a wonderful and inspiring morning! The highlight of which was when Divan got to ride one of the horses! Below I have shared some of the photos of the day.

MCG Biokinetics is considering opening a branch of this type of therapy (biokinetics on a horse) in Johannesburg and we would love to know if you are interested. Please email us your thoughts and comments.

http://www.paedsphysio.co.za/tumanako_2.html

Sam and Andrew with Salma, a down syndrome little girl, doing therapy :