Windham horse therapy nonprofit, Maine Med institute team up in $2.5M study
Courtesy / Riding to the Top
At Riding to the Top in Windham, TJ McAllister rides horse Babe during a therapeutic riding lesson, flanked by instructor Kate Jeton on the left and volunteer Donna Warren on the right.
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A Windham-based nonprofit and the Maine Medical Research Institute will participate in a $2.5 million study, along with the University of Colorado, into why horseback riding benefits children with autism.
Researchers will share a grant awarded by the Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, for a five-year study of the physiological impacts of therapeutic horseback riding.
The five-year study is the largest of its kind, and will include 142 children between age 6 and 16 with autism spectrum disorder and a psychiatric diagnosis.
The research will begin this summer at Riding To The Top Therapeutic Riding Center in Windham and at a facility in Colorado.
After going through an eligibility screening at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, children will be randomly assigned to the therapeutic horseback riding group or a "barn group" (non-riding) for 10 weeks of therapy.
A previous study by Colorado researcher Robin Gabriels showed that a 10-week therapeutic horseback riding intervention reduced irritability and hyperactivity while improving the social communication skills of youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
To learn why, Gabriels will team up with Mathew Siegel, a faculty scientist at the Maine Med Research Institute and leader of the autism and developmental disorders service of Maine Behavioral Healthcare.
“This study is exciting because it’s not often we have a chance to try to understand why something works,” Siegel said in a new release. “Learning why will hopefully help us create other interventions that could address challenges that children with ASD face.”
'Wonderful opportunity'
Sarah Bronson, a physical therapist who serves as executive director of Riding to the Top sees the study as "a wonderful opportunity for Riding To The Top’s certified instructors, volunteers, horses and many new clients to be involved in ground-breaking research that will provide more objective data as to the specific physiological changes that occur during therapeutic riding, lending further support to the work that we do."
The study also will look into how much therapeutic horseback riding a child needs to see measurable results, and how long those results last. Riding To The Top is recruiting volunteers to assist with both the riding and barn groups.
Study participants will be recruited this spring.
Susan Cole, director of development at Riding to the Top, told Mainebiz on Monday that the organization has already had a lot of calls from people interested in learning more about participating in or volunteering for the study, but so far is only taking contact information.
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