Introduction: low back pain is a common diagnosis in the modern world, with 60–80 % of people experiencing it at least once in their lifetime. The symptoms are quite limiting, as evidenced by the fact that low back pain is the leading cause of work absenteeism. Etiology of lower back pain is non-specific in more than 90 % of cases. There are various pain mechanisms that can contribute to pain who affect the choice of therapies for reducing the pain.Various methods are used to reduce pain, for example, proprioceptive training exercises which include hippotherapy and therapeutical horse riding. Purpose: the purpose of the thesis was to determine the effect of hippotherapy and therapeutic horse riding on reducing low back pain, based on a review of published scientific literature. Methods: the scientific literature was sought in the PubMed, PEDro, and DiKUL databases. An advanced search was conducted with the following search strings: »hippotherapy OR therapeutic horse riding AND low back pain«, »equine simulator OR horse AND low back pain«, »horse simulator AND low back pain«. Results: based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, six research papers published since 2014 were included in the literature review. The duration of the training programs varied from 15 days to 12 weeks, with individual sessions lasting between ten and 60 minutes. Four studies reported a statistically significant reduction in low back pain, while two studies noted significant improvements in the ability to perform daily activities. One study found a statistically significant reduction in the fear of movement. Discussion and conclusion: hippotherapy and therapeutic horse riding appear to be effective in reducing low back pain which additionally positively affects body composition, reduces fear of movement and improves daily functioning. Future research should focus on finding the parameters for the most effective therapy.
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