Questions to Ask when seeking Equine Assisted Therapies or Activities
Ask Yourself:
Do I want therapy for my child/family member/self OR do I want their/my time with the
horses to be recreational/social/educational?
If the answer to the above question is therapy, then you should ask the following questions when
investigating options in your community:
 What therapy disciplines does the practice offer (OT, PT, and/or SLP)?
o Do you want Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Speech-Language Pathology
(which would incorporate Equine Assisted Therapy or Hippotherapy)?
 Is the therapist(s) a Level I, Level II, or a HPCS (Board Certified Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist)
with the American Hippotherapy Association, Inc.?
 Are the horses conditioned and trained on a regular basis, if so, how regularly and who does the
conditioning/training?
o Note: A horse should be conditioned/trained a minimum of 3x per week and should
always be warmed up prior to being used in any therapy session. The physical condition
of the horses and their behavior are paramount.
o Do the horses have space and time to be outside when they are not working, or are they
kept inside?
o Do the horses appear to be in good health, weight and soundness?
o What does the practice do when the horses are no longer able to work in hippotherapy
sessions?
 What are the qualifications of the person handling the horse during therapy sessions (e.g. do
they have to meet a certain level of horse skill or do you train people without prior horse
experience to do the job)?
o Note: The person handling the horse during a therapy session not only has to direct the
horse’s movement per the therapist’s direction, but must be able to manage the horse
in an emergency situation. Inexperienced horse handlers can be dangerous and may
cause poor quality movement in the horse which will negatively effect the therapy
session.
 Are the horses lead or long-lined during therapy sessions?
o Note: Long-lining requires a horse-handler with a higher level of handling/riding skills
than if the horse is lead AND the horse must have training in long-lining. Long-lining
encourages/creates a better quality of movement from the horse than does leading the horse is being driven from behind which encourages them to use their back to its
fullest extent. The quality of the walk is critical for Hippotherapy.
 How do you bill for therapy services?
o Will my invoice say “Hippotherapy – X minutes” for a flat rate OR will each session be
billed by CPT codes (in 15 minute increments) just like a therapy session in a clinic would
be?

The answer should be that they bill by CPT code just as in a traditional clinic. Just
because the strategy being used to address a patient’s function has changed to a
horse does not mean that the way a patient is billed has changed.
If the answer to the above question is recreation/social/educational, then you may want to ask the
following questions when investigating options in your community:
 Does this facility/program use the words equine therapy, horse therapy, or horseback riding
therapy on their website or in their brochures?
o If so, move on – they are using terminology that does not exist and thus you can assume
do not know what they are doing and may not be safe
o In addition, if they are using the term “therapy” and there is no licensed therapist
providing these services, they are breaking the law.
 If the facility/program uses the term Equine Assisted Therapy or Hippotherapy, is there a
specially trained and licensed therapist providing these services?
o If not, move on – they are using this terminology illegally and suggesting that riding
lessons are therapy.
 There are facilities that offer both Adaptive/Therapeutic Riding and Equine
Assisted Therapy/Hippotherapy and thus should have qualified riding instructors
and specially trained and licensed therapists on staff.
 Are your riding instructors certified with PATH, Int’l.?
o PATH, Int’l. has minimum requirements that a riding instructor must meet in order to be
certified with them. This includes riding/horsemanship skills, teaching skills, and a basic
knowledge of a variety of disabilities.
 Are the horses fit and healthy?
o Are the horses sound?
o Do they appear to be in good health/weight?
o What does the program do with the horses when they can no longer work in lessons?
 What does the program do with the horses when they can not work any more?
 How many riders are there in each lesson?
o This gives you an idea of how large or small the groups are that your child/family
member will be riding with in a lesson.
 What type of riding/horsemanship do you teach (e.g. English, Western, Natural Horsemanship,
etc)?
Speech Language Pathology in Motion
829 Old Nichols Road,
Islandia NY 11749
Phone: (631) 479-3393 Ex. 3
Fax: (631) 479-3358
Web: www.speechinmotion.com