Hippotherapy is a unique method for the recovery and active psychophysical and psychomotor development of people with disabilities through adaptive horseback riding. Despite some successful cases of rehabilitation centers resorting to the help of ungulate "doctors", the effectiveness of the hippotherapy method has not yet been scientifically proven.

Doctors and parents of children with disabilities, for example, with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), are often afraid to resort to hippotherapy because of the risk of physical and psychological injuries.

The author of the development, head of the laboratory of the Department of Embedded and Radio Receiving Systems of the Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Management  Oksana Shpakovskaya told that during hippotherapy classes it is important to conduct a continuous assessment of the functional readiness of both the rider and the horse, to participate in the lesson, fixing hidden psychophysiological reactions.

"In order for a hippotherapy session to have a therapeutic effect in terms of a biomechanical factor, it is important that the rider and the horse move synchronously. As a tool for an objective assessment of the indicators of the functional state of a rider and a horse, to assess the mutual influence of the locomotion of a rider and a horse during hippotherapy, our department decided to develop a special hardware and software package," Oksana Shpakovskaya shared.

This device will allow hippotherapy specialists to evaluate the individual characteristics of the rider and select the optimal level of load in accordance with the psychophysiological condition. With the help of such a device, the hippotherapy coach will be able to monitor the preservation of the correct position of the rider throughout the lesson, assess the synchronicity of changes in the kinetic parameters of the horse and rider during movement.

Marina Pesotskaya, instructor of the White Horse House equestrian Club in Rostov-on-Don, noted that the introduction of innovative tools will increase the level and effectiveness of providing Hippotherapy and Wellness horse riding services in equestrian clubs in Russia and create the basis for introducing the method into an individual rehabilitation program.

"Early, in close cooperation with the Academy of Psychology and Pedagogy, a study was conducted on the influence of hippotherapy classes on the psychofunctional state of children with disabilities on the basis of the White Horse House Horse Lovers Club. Interesting results were obtained, which were included in the monograph "Physical culture and wellness technologies in the field of habilitation and rehabilitation with the help of a horse. The experience of development in Russia", published last autumn. At the moment, active work is underway with the Department of Embedded and Radio receiving Systems of the Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Management. Adapting the idea to solve actual practical problems through technical solutions requires large—scale systematic work," Marina Pesotskaya stressed.

Sergey Sinyutin, Ph.D., Associate Professor Antonina Leonova and Oksana Shpakovskaya, Head of the Department of VIRS, Ph.D., Associate Professor, are engaged in the development of the device at the SFedU Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Management. But the promotion of the development, the search for potential investors and industrial partners, and the transformation of the invention into a technology startup is handled by a team of students led by a sophomore at the Institute of Computer Technology and Information Security of the Southern Federal University, Neli Murtazina.

"When I entered the SFedU, I got into a very good team of specialists who revealed my abilities. In my first year, I met my mentors, and the work "boiled over". We worked very hard on the project, each of us made a huge contribution to the development of a hardware and software complex for hippotherapy. We've been through a lot of startups and contests together. I am sincerely glad that once I agreed to take part in the development and plunged into the world of technological entrepreneurship," said Nela Murtazina.

With the project "APK for hippotherapy", Nela won the network accelerator of technological entrepreneurship "Exponenta PRO", which was attended by 55 teams and projects from all over Russia.

Now the development team has a prototype of the hardware and software complex almost ready: there is a hardware part of data collection, transmission to a wireless channel is provided. In addition to the Rostov "House of the White Horse", scientists have a dozen more partners among equestrian clubs in the South of Russia.

"The project form of work is a priority at the Department of VIRS. It is only in project activities that students can acquire the skills and competencies that a professional in the field of electronic development should possess," said Associate Professor Antonina Leonova, Head of Student project activities at the Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Management.

In the future, the device of scientists from the Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Management will allow conducting a number of studies aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the hippotherapy method for people with disabilities and collecting scientific evidence to confirm the effectiveness of the hippotherapy method.

For the widespread distribution and provision of the Hippotherapy service in an accessible format on the territory of the Russian Federation, there is a need to address a number of issues related not only to gaps in the resource and methodological plan, but also to legislative aspects of the use of horses for physical culture and recreation purposes.