WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.999
[music]

00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:09.999
Lachy, is a second

00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.999
born of twins I... and he was born with the
forcep in delivery and that depressed

00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:19.999
his scalp which cause the weakness there
on the left hand side. I think because of

00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.999
uhm, the cerebral palsy was there from
birth, you just become a parent of

00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.999
a child with extra needs and quite
often, you just do things and you don\'t

00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.999
realize what you\'re doing until you\'d
sit down and have to analyze it.

00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.999
The term cerebral palsy is really a term
of convenience that really refers to

00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.999
a very wide group of kids who have
a problem in the developing brain

00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.999
that is permanent and doesn\'t change.
The problem in the brain

00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.999
can be in many different places
and very variable in its

00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.999
severity so that some children\'s cerebral
palsy will have an extremely mild

00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.999
form in which the movement of an arm,
one arm, or one leg might be slightly

00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:09.999
affected and at the other hand of the defection
it can be a very severe problem. But the

00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.999
one thing in common is that the problem in the
brain is not a problem that changes or gets worse.

00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.999
It, it remains consistent.

00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.999
Look he\'s pretty good, you just gonna play with him. Make sure
that you know, if he fall... he doesn\'t fall over. I think

00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.999
that\'s probably the main thing and I really
being there in steps, any undulations

00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.999
in the ground or anything like that
can cause a problem like a fall over.

00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.999
Uh, uh-oh! Lachy, does have a
lot more needs, with speech

00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.999
therapy, occupational therapy,
hydrotherapy, all those appointments. We

00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.999
need to remember to be on set up for the other two as
well so he\'s not seeing to be doing anything special, so

00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.999
we do and trying uhm, be very aware of
what we\'re doing for the whole family.

00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.999
Lachlan\'s had multi-level surgery which
basically was cutting through the

00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.999
femurs and rotating his legs out because his
legs we\'re quite predominantly turned in.

00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
Uhm, multi-level surgery
uhm, also included your

00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
tendon releases and that sorts of things
which were... physically he was of

00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999
his feet for quite some time. But generally

00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.999
speaking, he participates in a lot of things
that his twin does and his little sister does.

00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.999
But, yeah, the cerebral palsy uhm,
for him is mostly the, the thigh and

00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.999
the muscles within the left
hand side of his body.

00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.999
For 35 years Riding for the

00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.999
Disabled Association of Victoria has been
providing horse riding programs for children with

00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.999
disabilities, specially children
with cerebral palsy. After years

00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.999
of anecdotal evidence that horse riding
provides therapeutic benefits such as

00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.999
improve walking and greater confidence. They
decided to test this evidence with the rigorous

00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.999
scientific study.

00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
They have been some small studies done in
other parts of the world in the past. And

00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.999
those who\'ve only been with ah, very small
groups of people so it\'s usually not taken

00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.999
as credible evidence. RDI(ph), I felt that there
was a real need to, to provide this evidence.

00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.999
So, in partnership with Deakin University
and Royal Children\'s Hospital uhm,

00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.999
we\'ve manage to ah, recruit ah,
91 riders to take part in this

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.999
program and once the study is complete we\'ll...
We will have real evidence of what those

00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.999
benefits are. Currently children
with cerebral palsy need a range

00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.999
of interventions to help them reach
their potential. We think that various

00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.999
forms of therapy are the real bedrock for
everything else we do, and that usually

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.999
means physiotherapy to help posture
in sitting and standing and

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.999
learning to walk and also occupational
therapies i... is very important.

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.999
But the wider context is the
children need to have play,

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.999
they need to have exercise, and they need
challenges that are appropriate physically.

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.999
Riding for the Disabled
Association of Victoria,

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.999
work with the Royal Children\'s Hospital
and Deakin University, to get a clinical

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.999
and quantitative evidence
to test the hypothesis.

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.999
The research team recruited
60 volunteers, 27 horses,

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.999
and 91 children with cerebral palsy
and their families for the study.

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.999
Each child had to commit to riding
once a week for 10 consecutive weeks.

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.999
So, RDI(ph) approached us and
uhm, the Children\'s Hospital

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.999
uhm, to say whether we could scientifically
test with the, the therapeutic horse riding

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.999
program increases both functioning and quality
of life for children with cerebral palsy.

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.999
And so from that we\'ve just finished
recently developing the questionnaire.

00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.999
And so from that we now try to look for
interventions or programs that we could

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:09.999
test whether that it increases
a, a child\'s quality of life.

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.999
Just for you. Just for you. Now, I have

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.999
found that most small
children actually don\'t seem

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.999
to notice whether they\'re on a very tall
horse or not, doesn\'t seem to bother them.

00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.999
The older you get, the more slightly to aware
you that you\'re a long way off the ground.

00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.999
So I, I would like you all quietly to

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.999
go right behind this horse. I\'ve got him
as square as he could possibly be, and to

00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.999
me, to both sides of the
rump look exactly the same.

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:49.999
Okay, you get very, very close to the back,

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.999
and you duck down so that you\'re
not looking at rest of the horse

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.999
above the rump. So, it\'s pretty...
It\'s a little bit down on the right.

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.999
This side, yep. Quite neat. Which
I didn\'t expect to say. So,

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.999
I wouldn\'t for instance support
a rider that already had

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.999
an eye symmetry on this side,
I wouldn\'t choose this horse.

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.999
But from a physical point of view it is the

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.999
interaction of the movement of the horse\'s
pelvis and movement of the human pelvis

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.999
that produce the physical changes
that we all see. What this

00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.999
study we hope will demonstrate
is that we can measure those

00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:39.999
changes.

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.999
So this is a randomize control trial
which means that ah, old children

00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.999
at the beginning old children are randomly assigned into
one of two groups, either an intervention group or a

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.999
control group. We uhm, recruited
children that were age four to 12 years

00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.999
and children that had either a
mild or moderate entertainment.

00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.999
Good boy. What if I ask you to
make a little bit higher? You can?

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
See, here you go. Well
done Lachy, good boy.

00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.999
At the beginning of the study the children are assessed
in terms of their quality of life and their functioning.

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.999
And then you get... Half of the children then who are
assigned into the intervention group obviously received the

00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.999
horse riding program for 10 weeks. The control
group doesn\'t receive anything they just continue

00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.999
with their normal activities and then at the end
of the 10 weeks we reassess all of the children

00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.999
in terms of their quality of life and
functioning. This is very important because

00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.999
many of the things that have been tried
in cerebral palsy when they\'re applied to

00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.999
small groups of children without controls
they seem to be very promising. But once we

00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.999
embark on a scientific study or a
control child often the results are not

00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.999
nearly so beneficial. But whatever
the results they\'re going to be

00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.999
scientific, they\'re going to be important
for health professionals in Australia

00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.999
and throughout the world. I think this
really will be a landmark study. Okay,

00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.999
Lachy I\'m gonna bend this leg up. Lachy
just... I\'m just gonna hold it just a bit

00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.999
and taking his leg up. We\'re gonna say
heal(ph) on the hamstring muscle is.

00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.999
So you feel a bit of a stretch. So, what
we\'re looking at doing this measuring

00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.999
ah, the range of movement in joints and muscles to see
whether after the children have done their riding

00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.999
whether that\'s actually improved than... the
movement that they have in their legs. 46

00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.999
and we gonna take this one down. Georgia,
you have to crawl over to the chair.

00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.999
Show me how well you can crawl. All
the way on that. Come and sit up

00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.999
here. It\'s very nice.

00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.999
We\'re also looking at uhm, assessment of physical
functions and we wanna see whether the activities of kids

00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.999
can do every day at home has proved as well.
So when using a very formalized structure test

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.999
to see whether that changes over
time after ridding his (inaudible)

00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.999
. And can you walk

00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.999
all the way at the end for me? And
stop and come back? Good, man.

00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.999
And the main challenge we face is just

00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
recruiting families for the study uhm,
and that\'s primarily because uhm,

00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
the study does req... require a lot from parents and
children as well. Uhm, this oversee the completion

00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
of the questionnaire, also going for assessments
as well as coming to horse riding once a week for

00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.999
10 weeks. Uhm, so, so I think it makes it difficult
for parents particularly when they\'re already

00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.999
often attending lots of other
appointments with health professionals.

00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.999
[music]

00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.999
First and foremost, the horses must have
a really quiet temperament to be able to

00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.999
participate in an our(ph) program. I have to
tolerate things like wheelchairs, ah, riders that

00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.999
use ah, walking equipments such as sticks and
frames. They\'ve got be able to tolerate a

00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.999
number of volunteers working around them at
any(ph) one time. Uhm, they also need to have

00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
the right kind of movement, they need to be
sand and, and to free their movement and

00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
even. And ah, and I also need to
match the particular rider uhm,

00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
in relation to size and movements.
Hi, Georgia. Say hi to Barb.

00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.999
Hi, come on in and get your helmet. You
have a... And your boots. Hello, Buttons.

00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
Now, I\'m going to show you a
really easy way to get on

00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
Buttons. You need to come
up and that\'s it. Okay,

00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
you stand up close to me. See my leg there?
Can you put this foot on

00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.999
top of my knee? Bend
your leg up, that\'s it.

00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.999
Hang on, oops, hang on. Okay,
one, two, three. Push up.

00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
Georgia is very typical of, of
children that a really quite

00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.999
high functioning and they need different
challenges. When, when I said

00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.999
if we can keep her hip, knee, ankle
relationship just like this,

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
then Georgia has every opportunity
to be on a sit horse, a... up,

00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
upright herself. What I\'d love you to
do is put your hands on your knees,

00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
hands on your knees like that.
Feel good? Give her a pet.

00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.999
So you\'re ready to go? That\'s the way.
Which one...

00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.999
We\'ll go to the left first.
See it. There you go.

00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
Okay, can you tell Buttons to go?
Go. Well done.

00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
Let see it. Georgia, that is

00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
wonderful. Whoo-ooh! Stay a little
closer please, Fiona(ph). That\'s it.

00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
It\'s perfect walk. We can\'t
walk very well without our

00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
vision. So, very, very often the kids
that we work with, all the adults

00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
that we work with, they walk with their
eyes glued to the ground because

00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
they need that extra input because it\'s
not coming from the vestibular system.

00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
But a horse because of all
that movement gives you

00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
an enormous input to your vestibular
system because you\'re moving

00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
through space. Can you show
me how you going to get

00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
off? Look at that.

00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
Angus

00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
is a child with a lot of
complex issues to think about

00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
before you really can get what you
want on the horse. Okay, I guess

00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
now, I\'m going to put you
on your tummy use Buttons.

00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
And we\'re going to go nice and

00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
slowly, thanks Caroline. Alright, let\'s go.
First of all he\'s

00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
got a lot of spasticity and you,
you need to address that when you

00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.999
put him on a horse because if you don\'t
the spasticity makes it impossible to get

00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
him in a good position.
Prime with both knees bend

00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
to counteract the spasticity.
You watch if I let them

00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
go. They\'ll go very straight and it\'ll

00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
start to pull him down. So
if I keep them up I can

00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
isolate the muscles along his
back so that he\'s using those to

00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
hold this head and neck up. We have to deal
with spasticity and also he\'s very, very

00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
weak in his trunk and his core muscles.
So if you\'re on your feet his upper

00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
body around to me onto the neck.

00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
Good boy, I\'ll catch you. It\'s okay.

00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
Bend that knee and as we bend the

00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
knee this is all one coordination movement. Come on
up. Straight shoulder bend the knee and straight up.

00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
Oh, there you go. Well, that surprise you?

00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
Look at you. It\'s surprising.
It is surprising.

00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
In the physiotherapy world it\'s
common to call spasticity tone,

00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
increase tone. And what it is, is
that the muscle is working too

00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
hard. Some muscles are working too hard and
some muscles are not working hard enough,

00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
so it\'s develops. When you, when you have
normal muscle tone, you have a balance

00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
between the two. No, you need
to put them here. That\'s it,

00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
you\'ll be fine. I got you. We
both got you, look at that. Now,

00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
you see it immediately there\'s a little
bit of a difference. That\'s it. Good boy.

00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
Oh, it\'s okay. Well done,
look at you. That\'s

00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
excellent. But eventually I
want the movement to be going

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
through here, instead of it just being
- Yup. - complete block

00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
movement. But what you will
see change over the weeks is

00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
Angus\' ability to do more and more and more,
we can challenge him with activities.

00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
Not nervous now. That will make
him work his trunk a lot harder,

00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
but he won\'t think that, he\'ll just think it\'s a lot more
fun because you\'ll be playing with balls but the whole

00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
time we\'ll be working really hard to make him
a strong as possible. Oh, look at you. Simon

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
says is put your hands on your helmet.
There\'s your helmet a little... Oh,

00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
very good. You see, what\'s other hand
doing? Beautiful. Simon says is put your

00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
hands down and give Buttons a pet.

00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
Oh. Simon says touch my nose.

00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
No, in my nose. And the other
fascinating thing is once you

00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
can get a child in a position where
they can support themselves,

00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
they just suddenly become more animated
and they talk more and be... it\'s all

00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
because they\'re not as anxious. They don\'t feel like
they\'re going to fall off anymore. Did you know...

00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
Huge, huge difference in the spasticity.
That\'s good.

00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
Oh, you\'re gonna be stuck up there for long
time unless you push. Kick on, kick on,

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
kick on, kick on. Well done. Yeah.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
You can take that off. Well done Angus.
Nice work Angus.

00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
But unless you can address the spasticity in
the weakness, you can never get them into that

00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
nice place where they\'re finally
confident of their ability to sit up.

00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
Many of the things that we provide for
these kids are not very pleasant.

00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
It\'s not easy to command the hospital for
injections. It\'s not easy to face major

00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
surgery to keep hips and joints or to
help walking. I\'ve been very interested

00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
in uhm, the wider range of therapies
and things that might help

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
both function and quality of life in
these kids. Up, up, up, up to the sky.

00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
Talking about Lachlan, at first
glance he really appears a very

00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
functional boy and, and he walks very well.
It\'s only when you break down

00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
the components of what Lachlan has
to deal with that you realize that

00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
ordinary everyday life would
be very hard for him.

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:23.000
They have be straight answer. Okay Lachlan, let\'s take some
steps. Casey(ph) you may go home. One, two. Three. Three.

00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
And once you get those feet steady on me. Now, ride over
the top... Okay. Ride it, ride over like that. And then we

00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.000
said enough. And we just swung in right there.
Yup, when you\'re ready. Okay. (inaudible)

00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.999
cuz we will... Lean(ph) over. To lift up.
Dad, I... Are you alll right? (inaudible)

00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:44.999
you\'re doing well. And you go there. You need
to push up, push up. Good boy, well done.

00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
Well done. That\'s it, there\'s nothing to worry on. Now, when
you\'re ready I want you to push up away forward a bit more,

00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
and push yourself into the sole.
Well done. Take a mate(ph),

00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
good job. Lachy, could you grab
this hand with the other one

00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
like that and stretch them away up. See
if you can get close to Angela\'s cap,

00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
right at out here.
Forward, you have to bend.

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
That\'s it. The hand\'s up. He has a
weakness on one side of his body and

00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
always that leads to problems
with balance and coordination. So

00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
whilst he looks very functional,
there would be so many things he

00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
would find difficult and so many things he\'d
have to do very slowly. And for a young man

00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
that\'s a really, you know sort of really
frustrating way to have to live your life. Collins

00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
going to help you bring your leg
up and over the neck. Okay. Its...

00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
And, and yeah you Dad\'s gonna be there. Don\'t
lean on him yet. No, cuz you\'ll be fine. Just

00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
support him being near. Yeah. Okay.
That leg\'s going to come up and over.

00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
Oh, now. Beautiful. Now, we\'re going to
scoot(ph) your back so you\'re sitting

00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
on the saddle. So you do how when you see
daddy\'s now. If you face in Neil. Yeah.

00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
Face him. Hands on your Dad
shoulders and slide down. Dad,

00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
that was easy, easy on... That\'s it...
There, I thought so. Well. That\'s a really

00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
nice way. How do you feel after you\'ve
done it here? A little bit sore any way?

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
Here. Yeah. And here. So, you looking forward
to come and back the next week? Yes.

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
And Jacob will be riding for your again.
Yes, maybe. Okay, yeah.

00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
I\'m very confident that in 10
weeks we will see some... I

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
hope measurable improvements. I know there will
be improvements, and I know the parents will

00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
see changes, and I will see changes.
I\'d be very, very

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
surprise if we didn\'t see measurable
changes. The physical measurements

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
that\'s going to be interesting.
Sometimes you can improve function

00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
without actually changing a physical
measurement, so that, that\'s going to be

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
interesting and I\'m not sure at this stage.

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
Six weeks into the study, Australia
experiences its first ever

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
outbreak of the highly contagious
equine influenza. Horse flu threatens

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
the entire horse community. A government
imposes a ban on all horse movement

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
and this puts the whole study in jeopardy.
Wash your hands, wash your clothes, and

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
wash your gear and equipment. Horse flu,
take it seriously before it takes it\'s

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
toll. Yeah, the equine influenza
outbreak when it was first announced

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
it frightens the daylights out of me. I guess
because my first reaction was, \"Oh, my God!

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
How will we complete the study?\"
I got a phone call on, on my day

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
off. I knew it did happen and that a couple of
horses had been affected in New South Wales but

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
uhm, I hadn\'t heard anything about ah,
locking down the transport of horses and,

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
and locking down properties across uhm,
New South Wales, Victoria in Queensland.

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
So what we did in that case
was that we brought the

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
riders and families and
volunteers to the horses, so we

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
operated at the Melton Equestrian Academy
for a number of weeks ah, which was

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
where the horses live. Fortunately the

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
study can continue outdoors without
transporting the horses and the first group of

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
43 children make it through their 10
weeks of riding. Now Lachlan, come

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
over here. Look at this, look at this.

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
Wooh! Here. That\'s it, that\'s

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
it right to the end, right... With this
foot. You reach over with this leg?

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
That\'s it. Keep going. You got it.
You got it. When I saw him today

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
get on with almost no help at all.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
That\'s a huge change in it so.
Okay, let\'s go.

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
Yep, that\'s much better.
He still slightly...

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
See if he can get it. Yeah.
You\'re gonna have to reach up

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
Lach. Whoah. From up there.
Lachlan has been a star.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
And it\'s hard to know where to start with Lachlan
because there\'d been so many massive changes.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
That\'s it, that\'s it.

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Shit! I can\'t... Yup, yup they can\'t wait.
Lachlan\'s self-esteem

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
has rocketed. That\'s it. Yeah, they

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
now you\'ve fly it over. Don\'t
pull on the hair. Let\'s go,

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
ah, look. Well done. Yehey. Georgia\'s

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
an interesting one. She was a very
functional child when she first started.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
She had really more issues with

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
learning aspects. She had
very full focus and attention

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
and Mom is so happy with
the changes at home that

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
she\'s really busting to try to
find the program that Georgia can

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
transition into. Oh, at big steps.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
Okay, that\'s easy. He got

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
so much stronger. You did such
a good job today. Angus has

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
surprised me and, and Angus
has surprise himself and

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
above all his family. He was very disable.
The cerebral palsy

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
effects all fall in. So when we first put
Angus on a horse without being able to sit up

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
right, we couldn\'t get him to adjust
to the movement of the horse.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
So, all we saw was just this little person
just walking backwards and forwards.

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
And today with... because we
know how to position Angus

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
and he\'s got stronger we another thing.
His endurance has gone from 10,

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
12, maximum 15 minutes to 30
minutes without collapsing

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
from from fatigue. These are
the things that are amazing.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
The first three sessions has two to three
session she was uncomfortable... and

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
not uncomfortable that she was very scared, very
tensed, very oh, she\'d never been on a horse.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
And from the third session on, she\'s got her
comfor zone and really enjoying the riding.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
Play on. Wooh!

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
I see the changes and I see
them happen just from once a

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
week half an hour at the time,
it\'s quite amazing. While

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
everyone involved saw great improvements
in many individual of children. The study

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
itself did not show any measurable improvement
in the children as an overall group.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
On reflection the researchers felt the
design of the study may have been limited in

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
some areas. The 91 families in the
study was less than researches

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
had hope to recruit, and the diversity
of disability amongst the children

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
made it more difficult to measure improvements
in the group. I mean even with... it was

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
very difficult for him initially, he
just loved it so much that it had

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
a very positive sort of impact on
his confidence and his general

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
wellbeing. Go over. Well done.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
You are such a champion.

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
And it... it\'s something quite
magical event. Children

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
and animals and, and that in
direction I think. You should

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
be very proud of that, Lachlan. I am. Whoa!

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Wooh!

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
Thank you Barb so much. Oh, every time.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
Fantastic. You\'ve been wonderful. Oh, absolutely. I really
appreciated everything you\'ve done. Thank you, Barb.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
[music]

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
For everyone involved

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
valuable lessons were learned in this study
and further research will build on this

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.000
lessons.