The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of a horse riding simulator and galvanic vestibular stimulation on improving the ability to balance posture and proprioception. Thirty healthy adults participated and were randomly assigned to a horse riding simulator group (n1=10), galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) group (n2=10), control group (n3=10). Experiment groups were trained 3 times per week over 6 weeks. The ability to balance posture was measured by force plate and proprioception was measured by Joint position sense. The following results were obtained. the changes of balance index were significant interaction in each group in accordance with the experiment time in 0, 3 and 6 weeks (p<.05). All groups showed the most decreasing pattern compared with the control group. But was not statistically significant. Proprioception was significant interaction in each group in accordance with the experiment time (p<.05). All groups showed the most decreasing pattern compared with the control group. The above results indicated that the 6 weeks horse riding simulator and galvanic vestibular stimulation training demonstrated positive effects in the ability to balance posture and proprioception. These results suggest that the horse riding simulator and galvanic vestibular stimulation training could be therapeutic intervention that can improve balance and postural control.[Woon-su Cho, Young-nam Kim, Jang-sung Park, Hee-kyung Jin. The Effects of Ability to Balance Posture and Proprioception by Horse Riding Simulator and Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation. Phys Ther Kor. 2012;19(2):39-47.]

[Purpose] This study aimed to determine if the velocity of mechanical horseback-riding training can improve spinal alignment in young adults. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-six subjects were enrolled in this study. The subjects were randomly allocated into high-, moderate-, and low-velocity mechanical horseback-riding training groups. All participants completed one 20-minute session per day, 3 days per week, for 6 weeks. The evaluation was performed before and 6 weeks after the training intervention. The spinal alignment was measured by a Formetric III device. The measurement items were kyphotic angle, lordotic angle, trunk inclination, pelvic torsion, pelvic rotation, and lateral deviation. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance to determine the statistical significance. [Results] The kyphotic angle and trunk inclination were significantly different among the groups. The kyphotic angles of the high- and moderate-velocity groups were significantly lower than that of the low-velocity group after the intervention. The trunk inclination of the high-velocity group was significantly lower than that of the low-velocity group after intervention. [Conclusion] Higher-velocity mechanical horseback-riding training is more effective than lower-velocity mechanical horseback-riding training for improving spinal alignment.

Purpose:The study was to determine whether mechanical horseback-riding training according to velocity may improve trunk muscles thickness in healthy adults. Methods: Twenty healthy adults participated in this study. The subjects were divided into 2 groups as follows: 10 subjects in high velocity mechanical horseback-riding training (MHRT) and 10 subjects in low velocity MHRT. Subjects in all groups performed a total of 18 sessions 3 times a day for 20 minutes and this experiment lasted for 6 weeks. Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test were used in analysis the results of trunk muscle thickness. Ultrasonography was performed to evaluate for thickness of rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), internal oblique (IO), transverse abdominis (TrA), erector spine (ES), and multifidus (MF) in trunk muscles. Results: Results on the changes of EO, IO, and ES of high velocity MHRT showed a significant increase after 6 weeks (p< 0.05). Regarding the changes of EO, IO, ES, TrA, and MF of low velocity MHRT, a significant increase was observed after 6 weeks (p< 0.05). The differences in change of trunk muscle thickness before training, after 6-week training between groups, TrA and MF of low velocity MHRT were significantly higher (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results of the current study, the velocity of MHRT was shown to affect change of trunk muscle thickness in healthy adults. In particular, low velocity MHRT may serve as a useful method to provide for TrA, MF thickness improvement related to trunk stabilizers. This is an Open Access article distribute under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License (Http:// creativecommons.org/license/by-nc/3.0.) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution,and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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The Korean Society of Physical Therapy (KSPT) engages and inspires an international leadership in Asia on issues associated with physical therapy. As the leading journal for research in physical therapy and other fields related to rehabilitation science, KSPT publishes highly qualified scientific topic for clinicians and researchers, with the expressed purpose of improving therapeutic approaches for health and life quality of human. The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy (J Kor Phys Ther) is pubilished bimonthly from 1989, and it is open access journal, consequently, articles are free for all users to read and use. This journal is indexed in KCI (http://kci.go.kr), ScienceCentral (http://e-sciencecentral.org), Google Scholar (http:// scholar.google.com) and CrossRef (http://crossref.org). KSPT invites research papers and a limited number of reviews in the field of musculoskeletal, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, eletrophysiologic physical therapy. Although special research areas are emphasized for publication, articles dealing with other rehabilitation science will also be welcomed.