Benefits of horseback riding for neurotypical children and adolescents: a scoping review.

Purpose: To investigate evidence of horse riding in the development of language, cognition, social, emotional, and behavioral aspects in neurotypical children and adolescents.

Research strategies: Search in the databases of LILACS, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, and grey literature, without date or language restrictions. Registration in the Open Science Framework (OSF), under number DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/32ETZ. For search strategies: "Equine-Assisted Therapy", "Child or Adolescent Development", Cognition, Socialization, and "Child Behavior".

Selection criteria: Randomized clinical trials and non-randomized experimental before-and-after studies, case series, and prospective observational studies of neurotypically developing people up to 18 years old. Studies with people with disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders were excluded. Interventions researched: horse riding and animal-assisted therapy.

Data analysis: Two judges identified primary studies independently by reading the titles and abstracts, considering the inclusion criteria; a third judge was consulted to resolve divergences. The risk of bias was assessed using the ROBINS-I and ROBINS 2 tools.

Results: Altogether, 131 studies were obtained, and duplicates (27) were removed. Subsequently, 104 studies were analyzed and 77 were excluded. Of the 27 studies evaluated in full text, 21 were excluded. Six studies were eligible for this review - four non-randomized clinical studies and two randomized clinical trials.

Conclusion: The non-randomized studies showed significant improvements in cognitive functions and behavioral and emotional aspects. The randomized studies, on the other hand, found significant gains in social competence.