Benefits of an experimental program of equestrian therapy for children with ADHD.
Horseback riding gave kids with ADHD a tiny social boost but did not touch classroom behavior.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers in Spain tested horseback riding for the kids with ADHD.
Kids rode horses twice a week for three months.
Teachers and parents filled out behavior forms before and after.
What they found
Only one thing changed: kids said they got along with friends a little better.
Teachers saw no change in classroom behavior.
The boost was small and only showed up on self-report forms.
How this fits with other research
Zhao et al. (2025) looked at 11 exercise studies and found big gains in attention.
Their meta-analysis shows riding should help attention, but García-Gómez et al. (2016) did not test that skill.
Veenman et al. (2018) found classroom behavior programs give small but steady gains.
The horse program happened after school, so teachers may not have seen changes at school.
Why it matters
If you want to help a child with ADHD make friends, horse therapy might give a small push.
But do not expect it to fix classroom behavior.
Pair riding sessions with a school-based plan for better results.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Equestrian therapy has been shown to be a useful instrument in the sphere of the emotional wellbeing and mental health of different population groups. AIMS: To empirically determine the effects of a program of equestrian therapy on quality of life and various psychosocial variables of a group of 14 pupils diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), aged from 7 to 14 years. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test and a post-test, was implemented with an experimental group and a control group. The program consisted of 24 biweekly sessions, therefore lasting some 3 months. The data acquisition instruments used were: the "Behavior Assessment System for Children" (BASC) and an ad-hoc quality of life questionnaire. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The results deriving from the teachers' responses and the different scales of the BASC showed no significant group differences, but for the experimental group there was an improvement in the indicator corresponding to interpersonal relationships in the quality-of-life questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: It would seem that it is currently possible to recommend this activity, for this target population, as a sporting activity that provides similar benefits to other physical activities, but which is still far from being able to be recognized as a therapeutic activity.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.09.003