We can find many research papers on the effects of equine-assisted therapies on people with special needs, but not so many describing the effects of these therapies on a horse. Specially trained horses are used for such therapies and are assumed to be peaceful and obedient. The aim of this work was to find out how occupational therapy for children with autism affects a horse by observing its body language. We carefully observed the positions of the horse's legs, ears, head and neck. We conducted our research during 25 occupational therapy sessions with 9 children with autism and one therapeutic horse. We used observation sheets to determine the horse's behavioural patterns during half-minute intervals. We wanted to find out what effects the autistic children's functionality (lower/higher), activity (ground work/on the horse), and sequence of therapies had on the horse. Our results showed that there were no differences between the two groups of children, that the ground work affected the horse more, and that the therapies did not cause stress to the horse. These results suggest a neutral effect of occupational therapy on the horse. In the future, therapies that have a positive effect on both children and horses should be considered.
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