Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Self-Concept in Adolescents With Special Educational Needs

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between participation in a therapeutic riding program and improvement in self-concept. Using a One Group Pre and Post Test design, the Piers Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was administered to 29 adolescents identified by the school system as having special educational needs. These students participated in a therapeutic riding program. The mean percentage score of those participants who had no previous riding experience was not statistically significant; however, there was an increase. A t-value of 2.17 (df=22) was obtained on the two-tailed paired t-test conducted on the Behavior Cluster scores. This was statistically significant at the .05 level. Also, there was a positive correlation between younger students and improvement in self-concept scores. Furthermore, those participants who had previous therapeutic riding experience started with a mean score of 80%, as compared with 52% for those with no previous experience.