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I recently have been furthering my research with the comparison of hippo therapy as opposed to canine therapy. The article showed 6 equine studies and 2 canine studies and the studies showed that while there were more equine studies done, the canine studies were not nearly as effective as the equine. The kids interactions with the horses helped them to enhance their verbal skills and for children who had trouble movement-wise, the calming motion of the horses' gaits, which match so closely to that of a human, gave the kids brains a sense of what actually walking would feel like. I also viewed some videos of hippo therapy sessions and therapeutic riding sessions and these showed me that the two really are vastly different. One teaches the kids horsemanship skills (THR) while the other (hippo therapy) is a therapy medium and uses therapeutic techniques to aid kids in their disorders. Hippo therapy is more of a way to give kids therapy in a way that is much more than a "sit down and talk" environment. It uses horses as a method of improving motor and communication skills which is part of why it is one of the most beneficial forms of Special Needs Therapy.