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Purpose: Maintaining balance in humans involves continuous changes in parameters. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of hippotherapeutic exercises on development of the sense of balance in boys aged 15 to 17 years with mild intellectual disability. Methods: The study examined 50 randomly chosen boys aged 15 to 17 years with mild intellectual disability from the special education centre in Leżajsk, Poland. The study participants were divided into two groups: experimental group, who participated for 3 months in hippotherapeutic classes and the control group, with boys attending outdoor or indoor physical education classes. Before and after completion of the study, both experimental and control groups were diagnosed by means of Accu SwayPlus force plate. The force plate was used to determine alterations in the position of the centre of pressure (COP) on the platform in the frontal and sagittal planes in relaxed standing position with feet spread to the shoulder width and with eye control with respect to the base of support (BOS). The description was based on mean displacement of the centre of gravity (COG), mean velocity of displacements of the COG, mean radial displacement and total length of the COP pathway. Results: In the experimental group, equestrian exercises induced a series of significant changes that pointed to the improved balance reactions. The character of these changes in the positions analysed was similar: values of body sway in the sagittal plane and their range and mean displacements decreased statistically significantly after training. The same tendency was observed for mean radial displacements in the free open position and with closed support surface. Furthermore, the velocity of displacement and the length of the COP's projection pathway on the support surface in the free open position was also reduced. All significant changes and trends found for the experimental group, which occurred after 3 month of hippotherapeutic classes, suggest improved parameters of balance. Conclusions: The lack of changes in balance parameters in the control group shows that the hippotherapeutic classes significantly develop balance abilities in boys aged 15 to 17 years with mild intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of balance keeping is characterized by constant changes of parameters. Horse riding is one solution for improving balance. The objective of this paper is to present the results of horse-riding training undertaken in order to analyze the scope of its influence on the balance of children with mild mental retardation. The research covered 54 boys with mild mental retardation, aged 15 - 17 and randomly selected to participate in the research. The boys were divided into two equal groups: the control group and the experimental group, which participated in the horse riding classes for the period of 10 weeks, 3 times a week for 45 minutes. Balance was examined on the balance platform Accu Sway Plus in standing position. The description that was used: average placement of the centre of gravity, average speed of the changes in the placement of the centre of gravity, average radial placement and the length of the path covered by the centre of gravity. The experimental group showed numerous differences before and after the training. The nature of changes in the analyzed positions is the same: the values of body sway in the frontal and sagittal planes and their range as well as the average placement is remarkably, statistically smaller after the training. The same tendency is to be observed in average radial placement. Moreover the placement speed is smaller, as well as the length of the path covered by the centre of gravity on the basal plane. All remarkable changes and revealed tendencies in the experimental group, which appeared as the result of 10 weeks horse riding training influence, indicate the improvement of the balance reactions. The lack of changes in the control group shows that there were no factors that might have caused such effects as those in the experimental group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]