The human pelvic movement during gait is very complex! During gait the pelvis is in continuous motion through 3 planes with the Right side always doing the opposite of the L side. That is complex, right? The horse’s pelvis moves through the same 3 planes of movement as the human pelvis does. Not only does it move in the same directions and planes but it moves with the same synchrony (coordination and timing considered together) of human gait. No PT gym ball, bike or machine can reproduce that in the same way and offer what the horse can. Even the machines that are most like horses movements don’t offer the therapist the ability to manipulate that movement to get the desired human responses a skilled medical physical therapist knows the patient needs. The horse offers a bit bigger excursion of each of these same movements so that there is more brain registration. Often the pattern of gait after a patient gets off the horse is more typical and therefore more energy efficient than the gait before. Also, the horse’s gait is rhythmic. More about the supreme rhythmic Therapy tool of the horse next time.
