Muscle reaction function of individuals with intellectual disabilities may be improved through therapeutic use of a horse

•Individuals with ID require proper interventions such as hippotherapy.•Reaction time and muscle activation deficits might limit the individual's autonomy.•Hippotherapy can improve functional task performance by enhancing reaction time.•Hippotherapy is an effective training that provides a complex sensory motor stimulation. Reaction time and muscle activation deficits might limit the individual's autonomy in activities of daily living and in participating in recreational activities. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of a 14-week hippotherapy exercise program on movement reaction time and muscle activation in adolescents with intellectual disability (ID). Nineteen adolescents with moderate ID were assigned either to an experimental group (n=10) or a control group (n=9). The experimental group attended a hippotherapy exercise program, consisting of two 30-min sessions per week for 14 weeks. Reaction time, time of maximum muscle activity and electromyographic activity (EMG) of rectus femoris and biceps femoris when standing up from a chair under three conditions: in response to audio, visual and audio with closed eyes stimuli were measured. Analysis of variance designs showed that hippotherapy intervention program resulted in significant improvements in reaction time and a reduction in time to maximum muscle activity of the intervention group comparing to the control group in all 3 three conditions that were examined (p