College - Author 1

College of Engineering

Department - Author 1

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Mechanical Engineering

College - Author 2

College of Engineering

Department - Author 2

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree - Author 2

BS in Mechanical Engineering

College - Author 3

College of Engineering

Department - Author 3

Computer Science Department

Degree - Author 3

BS in Computer Science

College - Author 4

College of Engineering

Department - Author 4

Computer Engineering Department

Degree - Author 4

BS in Computer Engineering

Date

6-2022

Primary Advisor

Sarah Harding, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department

Abstract/Summary

Jack's Helping Hand and its hippotherapy participants required a device to serve as an alternative to a live horseback riding experience that could also increase the range of riders. This would provide more clients with equine-assisted therapy that has proven to better the lives of people with both physical and mental disabilities. Horses can be unpredictable, tall, and sometimes anxiety-inducing, especially for new riders. Our group’s aim was to develop a mechanical horse that will be able to reduce these issues for equine therapy centers and the riders they help. When a rider gets to practice sitting on the horse without the unpredictability or the height, the rider can develop confidence in riding before sitting on a real horse. After going out into the field to experience horse riding for ourselves and translating our experience into the design for our therapeutic mechanical horse, we have created a mechanical horse that can sit children who weigh up to 160 pounds and can withstand the conditions present in the barn where the machine will be stored.

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