Comparison to other Popular Concepts

Hippo Therapy

The Hippo Therapy approach is a medical treatment using the horse and the riding movements as therapy for patients with dysfunctions. Highly qualified physical, occupational and speech therapists use it to treat the riders medical condition and not to improve their riding skills.

The Healthy Riding concept shares the goal to improve the riders health through riding. It focuses on mostly healthy individuals that benefit from better coordination, balance, posture etc. through physiologically correct riding.

Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique seems to become increasingly popular amongst riders who wish to improve their skills.

The method focuses not specifically on riders and offers many general health benefits. While those benefits can contribute to your riding success by reducing tension, improving balance as well as coordination. Comapred to the Healthy Riding concept it is a generic approach that does not directly address individual riding issues.

Centered Riding

As one of the most popular riding concepts, Centered Riding is an approach teaching physiologically correct riding to the masses. It often uses a very picturesque language to describe the feeling of correct riding.

The concept can help many riders but due to the insufficient medical knowledge of the Centered Riding instructors there are limits in their diagnosis and the corrective training process. The Healthy Riding concept relies on more in depth analysis which requires a high degree of biomechanical and medical expertise.

Balimo

Is a quite new concept developed by a sports physiologist. It is very focused on balance and mobility. It uses a special chair that can help some students to improve their balance. The training program wants to improve mobility and strength. Compared to Healthy Riding the Balimo concept addresses only a small area and typically neglects many other connected issues.

Therapeutic Riding

Therapeutic Riding does not have much in common with any of the above methods. Generally it allows physically or mentally challenged children and adults to experience the health benefits of horseback riding on a basic level.

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