Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jul 14;14(7):776.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph14070776.

The Impact of a Horse Riding Intervention on the Social Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Androulla Harris  1 , Joanne M Williams  2
Affiliations

The Impact of a Horse Riding Intervention on the Social Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Androulla Harris et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This paper reports a case-control study of a horse riding intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A sample of 26 children, aged 6 to 9 years, were assigned to either the intervention (n = 12) or control group conditions (n = 14). Pre- and post-tests were carried out using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS2) and the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist-Community Edition (ABC-C). An observational measure of compliance and behaviour during the horse riding sessions was completed for the intervention group. There was a significant reduction in the severity of ASD symptoms and hyperactivity from pre- to post-test for the intervention group only. These results indicate that the intervention improves some aspects of social functioning for children with ASD.

Keywords: ASD; animal-assisted intervention; autism spectrum disorder; children; human-animal interaction; social functioning; therapeutic horse riding.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS2) scores at pre- and post-test for the intervention group (n = 10) and control group (n = 14).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean Hyperactivity scores on the ABC-C at pre- and post-test for the intervention group (n = 10) and control group (n = 14).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean Measurement of Pet Intervention Checklist (MOPI) item scores across the intervention period for the intervention group (n = 10).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Davis T.N., Scalzo R., Butler E., Stauffer M., Farah Y.N., Perez S., Coviello L. Animal-assisted interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. Educ. Train. Autism Dev. Disabil. 2015;50:316–329.
    1. Kendall E., Maujean A., Pepping C.A., Downes M., Lakhani A., Byrne J., Macfarlane K. A systematic review of the efficacy of equine-assisted interventions on psychological outcomes. Eur. J. Psychother. Couns. 2015;2537:1–23. doi: 10.1080/13642537.2014.996169. - DOI
    1. May D.K., Seivert N.P., Cano A., Casey R.J., Johnson A. Animal-assisted therapy for youth: A systematic methodological critique. Hum. Anim. Interact. Bull. 2016;4:1–18.
    1. O’Haire M.E. Animal-assisted intervention for autism spectrum disorder: A systematic literature review. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2013;43:1606–1622. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1707-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision (DSM IV–TR) Volume IV American Psychiatric Association; Washington, DC, USA: 2000.

LinkOut - more resources