A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY ...

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Horses are powerful, and therapeutic interventions involving horses for people with
various disabilities and difficulties are not recent phenomena: History is rich with accounts of the
extraordinary curative effects associated with interaction with equines. However, significant
scholarly attention was not directed toward animal-assisted therapeutic interventions in general
until the 1960’s (Christian, 2005; Eggiman, 2006; Fine, 2000; Levinson, 1962), and only relatively
recently has the literature regarding specific equine-facilitated therapeutic techniques begun to
emerge.
Since the 1950’s, worldwide attention to the potential therapeutic effects of interactions
with horses has increased exponentially, with an attendant increase in the number of therapeutic
horsemanship facilities available to the public. In the decades since then, the literature on the
beneficial effects of horsemanship has grown substantially, particularly regarding the positive
physical results of therapeutic interventions utilizing horses. In the past ten years, building upon
this accumulating body of anecdotal and other evidence, interest in this therapeutic modality has
virtually exploded. Sentimental public campaigns and widespread media attention invoke
awareness of the favorable outcomes reported from involving horses in the therapeutic process;
however, there is a dearth of rigorous evidence to support such claims. Despite a call for
research dating back at least to the 1970’s (Mayberry, 1978; Potter, Evans & Nolt, 1994), only a
handful of studies on the positive physical effects of horsemanship as therapy exist that are
considered methodologically sound, and even fewer that demonstrate empirical support for
psychosocial improvements.
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