A Specific Therapeutic Riding Indication Torsion Dystonia 2004

Torsion Dystonia (TD) is one of the most disabling and less responsive Extrapyramidal Disorders (ED), but no specific reports on the application of Therapeutic Riding (TR) are found in the literature. We report the results in 4 children affected by severe generalized TD assessed by our nTR ED Assessment Scale n. The horseback posture alone dramatically inhibits dystonic postural patterns e.g. torsion, opisthotonus, segmentary inconsistency, which are further reduced by the horses movement with the prompt acquisition of a more functional posture. This dramatic responsiveness proves that TR can represent a real possibility of rehabilitation for these S.