Animals including horses, dogs and their impact on disability

Animals provide various supportive roles for people with disabilities, that include medical, mobility and emotional support. Animals mainly dogs, are used everyday to support people in their homes, outside whilst walking or travelling, in SEND schools, hospitals or care homes.

There are different roles provided depending on the training these animals have received. For example assistance dogs are trained to perform multiple everyday tasks, whereas therapeutic animals (most commonly dogs) are trained to remain calm around sudden noises, and tolerate rough hugging or petting without becoming aggressive.

Below are a few of those areas in more detail.

Therapeutic and Emotional

Petting animals release something called Beta-Endorphins also referred to as natural painkillers, that help manage chronic pain and encourage the intense feeling of joy.

Other benefits include lowering stress, anxiety and loneliness, as animals provide companionship without judgement.

In settings like hospitals, schools and care homes, therapy animals are used to help comfort the individuals and bring them moments of joy. Notably other things than can be improved during these sessions are motor skills.

Mobility

When we associate mobility for those with disabilities and animals, it is easy to think directly about guide dogs. In the first instance you would be correct, guide dogs play a big part in assisting those with visual and hearing impairments, helping their companions navigate safely at home, on the road, in shops and using transport.

However they can do much more and in most scenarios it is dogs that have been trained to assist in other everyday tasks. These include opening and closing doors, turning on lights, picking up and fetching items, pressing emergency buttons or warning of danger when alarms are set off.

Medical

Assistance dogs play an important part on the everyday lives of those in medical need. They can fetch medicines, warn of an oncoming seizure, detect changes in blood sugar levels, can recognise heightened heart rates, and even get help when needed.

When it comes to supporting someone with Autism they are able to recognise and warn of an oncoming sensory overload and help ground the person by calming them during an episode.

Miniature horses

Miniature horses have been used as guides for the visually impaired as an alternative to guide dogs. There are a few reasons to suggest why:

Lifespan. These horses have a longer lifespan, typically living longer than dogs so able to provide longer support.

Vision. Helping someone who is visually impaired requires a lot of skill, and having great vision helps. Horses have great vision as their eyes are on the side of their heads allowing them to have almost complete vision of their surrounding area, and they also have excellent vision at night.

Janet and Don Burleson from the USA were prompted to train horses when they first discovered that the horse they were riding in the city was able to stop and safely cross streets on it's own. They also noticed that a miniature horse back in their home followed them around like a dog and even travelled with them in the back of their vehicle. They went on train miniature horses as guides from these observations for many years.

Fear. There are some suggestions that one of the reasons can be because of the fear some may have with dogs, a horse in this instance may be a more suitable companion.

Other animals

There are other animals known to be used for various needs including therapy, daily support or emotional support. Mentioned globally are pigs, monkeys, rabbits and birds for various reasons.

What is true in all this is whether someone has a physical or mental impairment or not, animals are here to play a big part in our lives. Their presence, support and companionship encourage positive feelings, bring calm and joy, hope and maybe in some way shows us the path of being non-judgmental.

Citations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_horse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_support_animal