ARC Hippotherapy
Our Horses
Based at the Aberdeen Riding Club, we are fortunate to have a team of incredibly patient and intuitive ponies. They are an integral and most important part of the Hippotherapy session. As the movement of the horse is essential to the success of the physio treatments, all the equines used for our hippotherapy sessions are specially selected and supported by trained volunteers.
Gemima
Year of Birth : 2002
Breed : Native X​
Colour : Piebald
Sex : Mare
Height :13.3h
Gemima has a steady forward gate and is regularly in normal ARC lessons and in the RDA sessions. She is a sensitive pony but easy to handle. With hippotherapy requiring side helpers as well as a leader she initially found this difficult, particularly if the side helper walked behind the saddle area. However, the leader now carries treats - which has solved the problem!
Gemima prefers us to use her leather saddle rather than the sheepskin pads. With this, she is ideal for our more stable in the saddle children who may be able to progress to a trot. Which always brings a big smile and often a giggle!
Hagrid
Year of Birth : 2002
Breed : Irish
Colour : Skewbald
Sex : Gelding
Height : 14.3h
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Hagrid came from Carlisle in 2008, where he'd been working at a trekking centre. He is a lovely calm, good-looking horse and is ideal for our taller hippotherapy children.
Hagrid's walk can be a little slow initially, so he requires a good warm up before sessions. The equine team must also remember that he is sensitive to having his girth done up and pretends to be fatter than he is when saddling him, so the girth always needs to be adjusted once he is walking in the arena!
Hagrid loves attention and enjoys getting his peppermints at the end of the day!
Hercules
Year of Birth : 2015
Breed : Small Cob
Colour : Piebald
Sex : Gelding
Height :13.0h
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Hercules is the newest addition to our therapy team. He arrived at ARC in 2025 and rapidly became a firm favourite. He has a calm temperament, is very affectionate and nothing seems to faze him!
Hercules had not worked within the RDA program before, but he had no qualms about the equipment we use, the hydraulic lift, or the children we work with. With his diminutive size, he is ideal for our small but more active children, which Holly would find difficult to tolerate!
JR
Year of Birth : 2008
Breed : Irish Cob
Colour : Piebald
Sex : Gelding
Height : 15.2h
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JR is our gentle giant. He has the perfect size and temperament for our teenage and adult clients - and for our therapy team!
Riding him without a saddle, he provides our new volunteers and physiotherapy students the opportunity to feel the therapeutic equine movement our participants experience - greatly improving their understanding of the benefits of hippotherapy.
JR loves the attention given to him, from being groomed and tacked up to teaching our volunteers and working sessions with our participants. JR is a great favourite of all invovled!
Tino (Valentino)
Year of Birth : 2010
Breed : Irish Cob
Colour : Piebald
Sex : Gelding
Height : 14.0h
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Tino arrived at ARC in 2024. With a history of working with the RDA in southern Scotland, he settled into ARC very quickly and needed minimal training to fit back into therapy riding.
His temperament and size mean he's a great horse to work with our more active participants and Ozzy2 is grateful for the help!
Tino is a very inquisitive and cheeky horse and members of the equine team have to remember that he loves to hold onto their zips and buttons when tacking up or giving him pats over his stable door - but if you're mindful to hold onto your jacket, he loves attention and treats!
Holly
Year of Birth : 2001
Breed : Connemara X​
Colour : Grey
Sex : Mare
Height :13.0h
Holly was born at ARC’s previous premises, Oldfold. She is a lovely sensitive pony. The equine team take care to tack her up quietly, mainly one-to-one.
She is an excellent therapeutic pony for our less able and active children. As she can experience discomfort in her lower back, we avoid riding participants in reverse position during her sessions.
Holly loves to be patted and stroked at the end of the session by our partcipants and volunteers!
Ozzy2
Year of Birth : 2005
Breed : Cob
Colour : Black
Sex : Gelding
Height : 13.3h
Ozzy2 is the work-horse of the hippotherapy team! He is the perfect size, has an excellent temperament and has a regular, forward regular gait. For most of our children he is ideal - he copes well with all the behavioural and physical difficulties ‘thrown’ at him.
The equine team are aware that although he likes being groomed, he reminds you with a nod and a look that tightening his girth should be done slowly!
Ozzy2 loves a treat and is always aware when someone has something yummy in their pocket - with hopes it might be just for him!
Murphy
Murphy, the mechanical horse arrived at ARC in August 2024.
Describing him as a mechanical horse does not really do him justice, he would actually be better described as a “virtual horse” - being the size of a large horse and with movement that almost exactly mimics that of a real horse. Using Murphy for therapeutic sessions is a more suitable option for several of our participant riders and equally offers them the benefit of therapeutic stimulation offered by equine movements.
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To ensure riders of all abilities can access Murphy we purchased a hoist for riders who have difficulty mounting. This combination allows us to provide Hippotherapy for riders who can’t mount from our platform or who we can’t safely facilitate on a real horse.
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Murphy has been a great addition to our equine therapeutic team!