From the author: Bugaeva, E.I. Hippotherapy as an alternative method of rehabilitation for children and adults with disabilities and disabilities / E.I. Bugaeva // Alternative rehabilitation: materials of the 1st International. scientific-practical conf. on alternative methods of rehabilitation of children and adults with disabilities, disabilities, HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases, Minsk, May 12-13, 2011 / ROO "Belarusian Association of UNESCO Clubs". - Minsk: RIVSH, 2012. - pp. 92-95. The problem of disability occupies a special place among socio-psychological problems. According to UN estimates, every tenth person on the planet has a disability. According to official statistics, there are about 10 million disabled people living in Russia; according to the Social Information Agency, at least 15 million. There are more than half a million disabled people in Belarus, and many of them need technical means of rehabilitation. Over the last 10 years, there has been a tendency towards an increase in the number of disabled people. The optimal way to solve the problem of disability is the rehabilitation of disabled people. To effectively solve the problem, it is necessary to search for new technologies for the rehabilitation activities of social services. One of the innovative methods of rehabilitation of people with disabilities is hippotherapy. The benefits of horse riding for the recovery of the sick and wounded have been known since Ancient times. Hippocrates argued that the wounded and sick recover faster if they ride. He also noted that in addition to the general strengthening effect, there is also a psychological effect of horse riding. He advised melancholic people to ride a horse, as it frees a person from “dark thoughts” and evokes “cheerful and clear thoughts.” The origins of modern hippotherapy were the Danish Liz Hartel, the Norwegian physiotherapist Elisabeth Bodiker and the French professor Yu. Lallery, who in 1960 -1970s He comprehensively studied the theoretical aspects of the impact of horses on the course of diseases in humans and actively introduced the results of his research into medical practice. Y. Lallery defined hippotherapy as a method of psychosomatic therapy, the goals and objectives of which are to help achieve motor, psychological independence and make a person able to adequately respond to new, changing circumstances. In the USA and Europe, therapeutic horse riding has been practiced since the early 1960s. Indications include poliomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, muscular dystrophy. Riding after operations on joints, especially those like the hip, gives good results. Hippotherapy is extremely effective for arthritis (inflammation of the joints), complete and partial paralysis of the limbs, muscle atrophy, convulsive muscle contractions [1]. Hippotherapy centers began to open in many countries around the world. In the USA today there are more than 1000, and in the UK there are about 700 groups, in which more than 26 thousand people improve their health. In France, they are training specialists in hippotherapy: the Faculty of Hippotherapy has been opened at the Paris University of Sports and Health. In Tbilisi, at the Georgian Medical Academy, the Department of Exercise Therapy and Rite Therapy was opened. Russian and foreign scientists Tsverava D.M., Loria M.Sh., Anais Atmadzhan, Robert N.S. are engaged in the scientific development of the problems of using horse riding and equestrian sports for the purpose of rehabilitation of patients . and others. Hippotherapy, as one of the technologies of social work with people with disabilities, is a comprehensive multifunctional method of rehabilitation. Hippotherapy is horse riding for disabled people, carried out using special methods that vary depending on the disease of the rider and the problems for which hippotherapy is used. According to the definition of Dr. med. Sciences Professor Tsverava D.M. hippotherapy is nothing more than a form of physical therapy (physical therapy), where as a toolrehabilitation involves the horse, the process of horse riding and the physical exercises performed by a person during horse riding. In the process of horse riding, all the main muscle groups of the body are included in the work. This happens at a reflex level, since while sitting on a horse, moving with it, the client instinctively tries to maintain balance so as not to fall off the horse and thereby encourages both healthy and affected muscles to actively work, without noticing it [3]. The mechanism of action of hippotherapy on the human body is the same as that of any other form of exercise therapy. Under the influence of physical exercise, there is an increase in the function of the autonomic systems. Hippotherapy affects the human body through two factors: psychogenic and biomechanical. The ratio of the proportion of these mechanisms in each case depends on the disease and the problems solved with the help of hippotherapy. Thus, in the treatment of neuroses, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, early childhood autism, the main influencing factor is psychogenic. In the treatment of post-infarction patients, patients with postural disorders, scoliosis, and osteochondrosis of the spine, the leading factor of influence is biomechanical [2]. During hippotherapy classes, all muscle groups of the rider’s body are simultaneously involved in the work. Moreover, this happens at a reflex level, since the practitioner instinctively tries to maintain balance so as not to fall off the horse, and thereby encourages all major muscle groups to actively work. In Russia, the use of hippotherapy began with the discovery in 1991. in Moscow, the children's environmental center “Living Thread”. Later, hippotherapy became part of the complex of rehabilitation means used for disabled children at the Green Light recreation center near the city of Luga. In Sergiev Posad, hippotherapy classes have been organized on the basis of the public organization “Old School” with children with amputations, cerebral palsy and various mental pathologies. The pioneer of Belarusian hippotherapy can rightfully be considered Valentina Vinogradova, who in 1998 founded the Belarusian public association of horse riding and hippotherapy (BOOVEY). At BOOVEI, children aged 5 to 15 years old, mainly patients with cerebral palsy (cerebral palsy of 1-3 severity), as well as epilepsy and other diseases, undergo rehabilitation under the scientific supervision of the head of the Department of Child Neurology of the BMAPE, Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences, prof. Shanko G.G. with the blessing of the Orthodox Church and the prayerful support of Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Philaret. BOOVEY has four different types of horses of different breeds for work. Hippotherapy classes are held in Minsk on the territory of the Kolodishchi military camp. During the period of formation and activity, our own LVE methodology was created, 4 scientific articles were written in various major scientific publications. Of the 206 children who underwent rehabilitation, more than 10 began to move independently, 15 had their disability reduced or removed, and 6 children began preparing for equestrian competitions under the Paralympic program in the dressage category. Also on the basis of BOOVEI, two International seminars on hippotherapy were held: the first 20 - 23.11.2000 in Maryina-Gorka with the participation of specialists from Belarus, Russia and Poland, and the second - together with the Orthodox sisterhood in the name of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk Icon Temple Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow April 17 - 18, 2004 in Minsk with the participation of specialists from Latvia, Poland, Russia and Belarus. The Republican Center for Olympic Training for Equestrian Sports and Horse Breeding is located 6 km from the Moscow Ring Road in the village of Ratomka. Hippotherapy classes are also held here, you can go horseback riding, or just ride horses. In Minsk, in the Sukharevo district, IP Stets conducts hippotherapy classes and teaches horse riding. Only individual hippotherapy classes, horseback riding, horse riding training for adults and children are conducted by a certified and certified specialist in therapeutic horse riding in.