Benefits of therapeutic horseback riding for an adolescent female with traumatic brain injury

After completion of a recreational therapy assessment, a treatment plan based on a oneyear therapeutic horseback riding program was designed and implemented to address the needs of a 13-year-old adolescent female who had sustained a traumatic brain injury. The purpose of this study was to determine if therapeutic horseback riding could improve selected deficits in the adolescent female. Benefits were observed in the areas of increased attention and memory, following directions, sequencing, and horseback riding skills. All gains cannot be solely attributed to the therapeutic horseback riding program but may be part of the cumulative effect of concurrent treatment modalities.