Therapeutic horse riding is divided into four main phases:
"Maternage": is the  prelimanary phase where the rider, supported by the therapist, becomes accustomed to the horse;

Hippotherapy: the rider is required to perform  exercises on horseback but he does not need to control the horse’s movements or stimuli, he just responds to them automatically.

The effectiveness of this phase depends on the  medical team’s choice of exercises and their progressive sequence and difficulty. Rehabilitation: an advanced phase in therapy, the rider learns to control the horse’s movements independently.