Strides Therapy Clinic

Strides Therapy Clinic

Strides Therapy Clinic is a private Paediatric Occupational Therapy clinic that specialises in the use of hippotherapy (equine movement). Strides was founded by Sarah Beasley in 2014 and is located just off the Ballincollig bypass.

In conjunction with other treatment strategies the Occupational Therapists at Strides use evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning when utilising equine movement to engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes in their clients.

Hippotherapy can be used as part of a client’s integrated plan of care where appropriate for children from 12 months old with a variety of diagnosis and impairments, including but not limited to:

Autism Spectrum Disorder                                         Traumatic Brain Injury

Cerebral Palsy                                                            Stroke

Developmental Delay                                                  Abnormal Muscle Tone

Genetic Disorders                                                      Impaired Balance Disorders

Chromosomal abnormalities                                       Hemiplegia / Diplegia

Learning Disabilities                                                    Disorders of the brain

Sensory Processing Disorder

By working one-on-one with our clients, both on horseback and in our client focused clinic, our occupational therapists help clients make functional gains in such areas as:

Fine Motor: holding and using a pencil, crayon, spoon or fork; picking up puzzle pieces; writing and colouring; snipping with scissors.

Gross Motor: ambulating; navigating stairs, ladders; kicking a football; cycling a bike.

Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s): playing appropriately with other children, self-feeding, dressing and undressing, grooming and toileting.

Other benefits of occupational therapy can include improvements in balance, muscle strength, gait, posture, sensory processing, motor planning, coordination, visual processing and social skills.

Amazingly we can use the highly-organised movement, rhythm and repetition of the horse as a treatment strategy to help us reach functional outcomes in all these areas. It’s all about the movement. The horse’s pelvis moves similarly to that of the human pelvis and shares the same three dimensional planes.

This multi-dimensional movement provides systems-wide neurophysiological impact. All this movement from the horse’s pelvis results in the child experiencing weight shifts, balance reactions and core/pelvis motions resulting in the development of skills such as motor planning, bilateral coordination, muscle strength, visual perception, sensory regulation, weight-bearing, timing, the list goes on. All these components are essential for daily life.

By influencing the movement of the horse, using different speeds and different shapes in the arena, and manipulating the child’s positions on the horse our specialised therapists can provide precisely the sensory and neurological input each child may need. In an average session the horse will take approximately 2000 steps, giving a child thousands of opportunities to practice and refine responses, in turn making functional gains in their area of need.

Strides Therapy Clinic is open Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm.

To learn more about how Occupational Therapy using hippotherapy may benefit your child, please contact Strides Therapy Clinic:

Phone: 085-1045587

Email: info@strides.ie

Or Facebook – Strides Therapy Clinic.