Acute effect of hippotherapy applied on different sitting surfaces in children with special needs

This study aimed to evaluate the acute effects of hippotherapy on different seating surfaces on sitting balance and walking speed in children with special needs. While no significant improvements in sitting balance were observed across groups, the group using saddles with additional texture materials exhibited increased walking speed compared to the other groups. The authors suggest that variations in saddle texture may enhance the effectiveness of hippotherapy, recommending further research with larger sample sizes to investigate longer-term outcomes.