AN inspirational woman with cerebral palsy is opening a horse power therapy centre to help people with neurological disorders improve their mobility.
Dr Dorothee Debuse has spastic diplegia – cerebral palsy which affects her legs – and first experienced the healing power of hippotherapy, a specialist physiotherapy intervention using horses, when she was eight years old.

Now she is setting up hADVERTISEMENTer own centre – Horse Power for Ability – in Titilington near Glanton after receiving more than £8,000 funding from One North East as part of the funded by the Northumberland Uplands LEADER programme which is made available through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

Dr Debuse, 38, grew up in Germany and qualified as a chartered physiotherapist in 1994 after studying at Northumbria University, where she now works as a part time lecturer.

But pursuing her love of horses and helping others through therapeutic riding remained paramount and she is now preparing to open the unique service to the public.

The project will provide three jobs for the area – a specialist physiotherapist post, a horse handler and an assistant post – with more jobs to follow in the future.

Dorothee said: "Because I have cerebral palsy I know what it feels like to be a patient so I'm in an ideal position. When I was eight years old my movement improved vastly after starting therapeutic riding - after four weeks I was able to ride a bike. My condition drove me to become a physiotherapist and after working in Germany where hippotherapy is renowned I feel very passionate about helping people with neurological problems in this region.

"Riding a horse has proved to be incredibly empowering, giving people a great deal of hope with raised self esteem and a feeling of achievement both physically and psychologically. It's beautiful to witness."
She added: "When I worked in Germany I saw some examples of really good practice and my ultimate aim is to establish a Centre of Excellence in Hippotherapy in the UK.

"There is no service like ours that I know of in the whole of the UK, there are only a handful of trained physiotherapists in this field, some of which have retired.

"People have told me that after receiving hippotherapy they 'feel like they are walking on a cloud' and these are people with real neurological problems. Other people have said that after hippotherapy 'it feels like their knees aren't tied together any more' – a few people have used those exact words.

"I get goose bumps when I know we can help people achieve such a change in their ability to move, and ultimately, in their quality of life."
Supported by her husband Stuart, Dorothee has been working with her horse to prepare him for his work, and has bought special equipment for the centre.

It is hoped that the service will be open by November.
Tom Burston, Local Action Group Co-ordinator said: "The Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group is delighted to support Dorothee in the setting up of Horse Power for Ability.

"We are trying to encourage the development of new ideas in Northumberland and Dorothee's plans are really exciting. This is going to help create jobs and opportunities that don't exist in Northumberland at present."

People interested in using the service can find out more by visiting www.horsepowerforability.com.

At present it is a private service but Dorothee hopes that when the benefits of hippotherapy become well-known in this country, it will eventually be a service offered through the NHS.

Hi everyone, my name is Jane-anne. I run a hippotherapy program in Sudan. I also have a disabled daughter (Fatima 18yrs) who has Charge Syndrome. I am very excited to have the honour of writing for this blog. I hope my posts will be informative.
If you wish to learn more about my work please visit http://www.miraclessudanhomepage.blogspot.com

Due to its special atmosphere, Miracles Sudan riding centre is a exciting and stimulating environment for children to attain their therapy (hippotherapy) and for parents to overcome their taboos. (Parents of handicapped children in Sudan often hide their children away afraid of what society would think of them).

The horses used for this type of therapy need to have a good, calm temperament and be very well trained. Horses at Miracles Sudan riding centre have both qualities enabling children and their assistants to perform all sorts of exercises safely. More over, children are conquered by the kindness of these large animals which builds their confidence and thus increases their interaction.

Miracles Sudan’s special feature is to be a home for abandoned horses in particular, but once visited it appears clearly that it is a home for all living beings. This is a real miracle in Sudan and that is what gives it this name. Probably, this is also why this special experience is working out so well. Somehow, there is a strong bond between those rescued horses and these children as they both have been challenged to get a dignified life finding their way through this farm.

A large number of children in Sudan, mostly with a Neurological developmental condition face the challenge of living within their own space, while the world outside doesn’t seem prepared to adjust according to their needs. Hence the challenge to help them face their environments only manages to add an atom of progressive development in their lives. Out of the many, one of most common and fast growing disability condition is Cerebral Palsy. This neurological condition is one of the most causative disabilities in the 21st century. Even more active in growing numbers in Africa and other under developed countries, due to poverty and illiteracy. Its has been estimated that Three children out of 1000 present with this condition in the world, while in Africa the prevalence is higher with 5 children every 1000. With regard to Sudan, there are no official statistics yet. However, at Khartoum Cheshire Home (KCH) - which is one of the few organisations that caters for the needs of children with this condition – only in the last year the number of children with Cerebral palsy registered has increased by 62%. This disability occurs due to poor prenatal, natal and post-natal care in pregnant mothers and infants. Once Cerebral Palsy has been inflicted upon a child treating the condition it self is redundant. Hence teaching parents and children how to manage with the given condition is the focus of attention.

Whitworth students test horse-riding in treating cerebral palsy

Known as hippotherapy – stemming from the Greek word “hippos” for horse – the treatment uses the multidimensional movements of a horse to treat patients who suffer from muscle or movement dysfunction. It’s said to improve balance, posture, mobility and function.
With his arms outstretched, 6-year-old Tyson Thompson concentrated Sunday on keeping his posture straight and his leg muscles strong as he balanced on the horse moving beneath him.

The boy looked miniature perched on the back of the 1,400-pound horse named April. Maintaining steadiness proved even more difficult without a saddle, especially for Thompson, who has cerebral palsy.

“It makes him very aware of his body positions,” said Ellie Giffin, Thompson’s mother. Riding 18-year-old April – a breed of draft horse known as Shire and related to Clydesdales – is also the only physical therapy Thompson does in which his symptoms don’t regress, Giffin said.

Known as hippotherapy – stemming from the Greek word “hippos” for horse – the treatment uses the multidimensional movements of a horse to treat patients who suffer from muscle or movement dysfunction. It’s said to improve balance, posture, mobility and function.

“They can’t re-create this in a clinic,” Giffin said.

Giffin and her family also are fortunate to be related to Mike and Teri Sardinia. The Sardinias own the Clayton, Wash., farm and the horse used in Thompson’s therapy. The boy has been working with the horses since he was 3 years old.

Mike Sardinia is a biology professor at Whitworth University. Two years ago, two of his former students did their research project for his animal physiology course on the effects of hippotherapy; Thompson served as their test subject. This year, undergraduate biology majors David Ellis and Aly Shaffer, both 22, took the research a step further to determine how long Thompson’s muscles benefited from each session.

The students measured the electromyograms in the boy’s muscles before, and then each day after each therapy session for a week. The electromyogram is a graphic representation of the electrical activity that occurs when muscles contract.

For most people, those muscles are in sync when they are contracting in the limbs. But for people with cerebral palsy, the electromyograms are out of sync for the same muscles, causing patients to be off-balance.

“The idea of being on a horse is that it moves in a very synchronized way; he has to use his muscles in sync with the horse,” Ellis said.

Ellis and Shaffer recently presented their research at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference. Their research determined that Thompson had better muscle coordination and balance for at least two days following his sessions with horses.

Mike Sardinia said he hopes the research will be helpful in establishing more local hippotherapy options. When Giffin went looking for help, there were only two similar programs in the Spokane area, and each had a long waiting list.

In addition, Sardinia said there is much anecdotal evidence to support the benefits of hippotherapy, but very little solid research to prove it works.

“We want to spread this around to anybody that is doing this kind of work,” he said.

Already, the need is growing.

On Saturday, a newly formed group in Spokane called Free Rein held an event to raise money for similar therapy.

Founded last summer, Free Rein allows 22 children and adults with physical, mental and emotional disabilities to ride and connect with horses. The nonprofit wants the program to grow and eventually serve 100 riders a year.

But the therapy is costly, and often patients are living on limited incomes and have higher living expenses because of a disability.

The Sardinias said they have only worked with Thompson so far, but in the future would consider taking on more riders.

Giffin said that without the therapy, her son’s progress would have been slower. He no longer wears leg braces.

“The biggest thing is that he has developed strength in his torso,” Giffin said. “He couldn’t sit before without help.”