Equine-Assisted Adaptive Riding Groups with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapeutic Components for Youth with Anxiety

Many children and adolescents experience mild to moderate anxiety.

Reining in Anxiety evaluates whether combining adaptive/therapeutic horseback riding (THR) with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques can help reduce anxiety symptoms. This program equips children and their caregivers with practical tools to better manage anxiety.

In 2019–2020, we partnered with GallopNYC in New York City to pilot the Reining in Anxiety program and published our results in Journal of Child and Family Studies in 2021.

In 2021,  we launched another pilot at Fieldstone Farm in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with a focus on physiological biomarkers (cortisol, oxytocin, and alpha-amylase) in both humans and horses. This study helped us understand how Reining in Anxiety affects both the human and equine stress response systems, as well as its impact on youth anxiety and trauma symptoms.  Results were published in Animals in 2022.