Though it may be a less common household pet, the horse’s prevalence in this area is undeniable. Whether in a neighbor’s yard or seen walking down the road, there is an abundance of equine friends here in North Texas, especially right down Cross Timbers Road at Mane to Tail Therapy of Texas, an equine-therapy center that uses Hippotherapy and other techniques to positively influence patients. At first glance, the horses grazing in the vast open field may seem like any other, but these beautiful creatures are used for a much deeper purpose than meets the eye. These horses provide a unique therapy experience by harnessing the dynamic power of equine movement that provides whole brain activation for positive communication, social/emotional, sensory, cognitive, functional and physical outcomes, among other benefits.
A therapist’s words in a clinic can only go so far in each session, so at Mane to Tail Therapy, they let the horses do the talking. Alongside their team, Speech/Language Pathologist Melanie McDonald and co-owner, PATH Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor, daughter Morgan McDonald of Mane to Tail Therapy, practice Hippotherapy, speech therapy using horseback riding to regulate systems, impact human neurophysiology, encourage new communication pathways, build relationships, and improve various motor skills and social functions.
Most of the patients at Mane to Tail Therapy, the only Hippotherapy for Speech Therapy practice in North Texas, are individuals with Autism, some verbal and others who need more encouragement. Others have rare genetic and chromosome disorders, speech/language disorders/delay, including sensory, social skills, receptive/expressive language, articulation, and fluency disorders.
At Mane to Tail Therapy, each session is catered to the child’s abilities using various techniques to help kids improve communication. With hippotherapy, the children are encouraged to ride the horse right away in order to regulate their nervous systems, calming the body to be ready and open to instruction. Once regulated, they are encouraged to instruct the horse how to proceed.
“Some are vocalizing to make the horse move and some are just looking in a direction,” McDonald says, “whatever response they give us, we shape that response for more universal communication.” Based on the child’s ability, they will instruct the horse to move through verbal commands, using their communication devices, or simply gazing a certain way to move, alerting the therapist that they want to tell the horse to go. This interaction strengthens communication and cognition for the kids by demonstrating the necessity of conveying their wants and needs through both verbal and nonverbal cues.
By interacting with the gentle giants on the property, the kids are engaged by completing tasks, focusing on their movements and listening to instructions, which leads to lower stress and an open mind. The connection between the child and the horse’s movement alone results in “whole brain activation that regulates the children much faster, so that they are able to learn,” McDonald says, “they know how the horse is going to make them feel - they get excited.”
“Every single thing we do has purpose and meaning and is teaching communication,” McDonald says. They offer therapeutic riding sessions that focus on teaching the skill of horseback riding to improve balance, strength, sensory integration and circulation. They take the kids to feed animals down at the neighboring ranch, owned by Jeff York, who has been supportive and generous in letting them use his beautiful property. Clients assist with chores to teach responsibility and structure. They work on food aversion by taste testing different foods with horses and therapy dogs. The connection between the animal and child has countless benefits and each is explored with direction on the open field at Mane to Tail of Texas.