Children with Autism and horses

[LynnG]

I would like to hear experiences and stories of autistic kids and horses. I have a young autistic boy coming this weekend to see and learn about the horses and do a leadline ride.

thanks!

[tootsie]

I volunteer at a therapeutic riding center. There is one young man there who when I first started working there would not talk or make any kind of eye contact. That was in 2001.

A couple of years ago, there were too many riders at one end of the arena and he and another rider were fixin' to collide. The horse leaders could not see what was going to happen. I was getting ready to voice a warning when I saw that boy look up and the situation registered in his eyes. I actually saw him "wake up" and whoa his horse. He had never done anything like that before. He had been a very passive rider. Since that time, he now has regular conversations and rides independently - trotting & loping. He also helps us clean up the arena at the end of the day.

Riding and interaction with horses is good for everyone.

[ErinC]

Where is Terri,
o wait she is at work,
( she vol. at Handi Kids on Tuesday )

http://www.handikids.org/


they even have a Paso there.
;-)

[Mary1]

at 24 she showed interest in my horses. She started talking more in a short amount of time. I got her the Parelli DVDs and she watched them incessantly. She is the gentlest of souls and worked with my two year old with what she learned in the program.
She told me she wants to learn to talk more so she can help people with their horses.
: )
It is very hard for her to use words. But the 'language' she uses with the horses is quite impressive.

[Terri]

There is a whole spectrium to autisium. Some are very high functioning and other much lower. I've also noticed you can't assume that you know what the student is taking in. On of my lesson girls is very high functioning and seems to learn and takes in alot. But the other day when I was adjusting her girth, the lady holding the horse's lead tripped and fell (don't know how she did that standing still) and the horse spooked. The kid (teenager) panicked, wanted to get off right away and actually thought she had fallen. We had to convince her she was still on the horse. This week a different teenager was on the same horse. The horse spooked at something again (weird). This kid, who is definitely lower functioning (doesn't really talk or follow directions), threw his heals down, grabbed the saddle horn and sat confidently, then laughed and laughed the rest of the time. So was the higher functioning kid more aware of the danger or was this kid actually paying attention and we just couldn't tell?

[Laura S]

There is a really good book called, Animals in Translation, Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. It is written by Temple Grandin and she is autistic. It gives alot of perspective on how the brains work in autistic people. And how the author relates to animals is really different, she feels she is more on their level, or her brain works much like an animals brain.

[Fuego]

Paul Micheal is an autictic boy at my barn. Physically active , but no verbal communication to speak of. But he LOVES to ride.
The family has a wonderful Paint gelding that is bombproof. If tacked up and tied, it's not unusual see to Paul Micheal using this horse as a jungle gym, crawling all over and bouncing around ( in the saddle , behind the saddle, in front of the saddle). He doesn't ride alone but loves riding double. His older sister ( 13 yrs old) is often seen riding around the farm with Paul Micheal in the 'rumble seat'. And nothing brings smiles and enjoyment from Paul Micheal like cantering on a horse with his sister or mom. Non stop smiles and happy noises the whole time. Pure joy.

Paul Micheal refuses to ride in the winter, regardless of how nice the day is. In his mind, they don't ride in the winter, and that's the end of it for Paul Micheal. He'll start riding again this spring when the time is right, according to Paul Micheal.

[LynnG]

Thanks everyone. This boy is high functioning said his mom. He does good talking and asnwering questions, but not so much at asking back. His mom said he was so excited he called and told his grandma and greatgrandma about coming to ride this Saturday. It sounds like it will be like Christmas for him to get to do this.

The before ride task was to get him a safety helmet that fits him, and he already has cowboy boots to ride in. He'll get to ride Arianna, the mare my other young boy student rides and Mom will get to ride Maja in a lesson afterwards for her lesson. Grandma is coming to watch and childsit during the second lesson. I picked up some neatly illustrated kids books on animals for entertainment for Grandma to read while Mom is having her lesson.

[Mellifluous]

Lynn, the EAGALA group has a good MSN discussion board. they work with an assortment of young people.

http://www.eagala.org/

message board
http://groups.msn.com/eagala/messageboard.msnw

[Pasogirlz]

at 24 she showed interest in my horses. She started talking more in a short amount of time. I got her the Parelli DVDs and she watched them incessantly. She is the gentlest of souls and worked with my two year old with what she learned in the program.
She told me she wants to learn to talk more so she can help people with their horses.
: )
It is very hard for her to use words. But the 'language' she uses with the horses is quite impressive.

http://bestsmileys.com/welcome/10.gif

Welcome to the forum. I can hardly wait to hear more about this. 8-)

[Terri]

Lynn, here are some of the things I've noticed at handikids:

1) although they have the kid on a horse, the goal doesn't necessarily focus on just teaching to ride. They work on other stuff such a motor skills (tossing bean bags in a ring or hopes over cones), letter recognition (easy in a dressage area), color recognition (what color/shape is the bean bag/hoop?).

2) they do a lot of stretching exercises which they combine with body parts recognition: Touch your nose, knees, head etc...

3) following directions work. (Circle around the cone. )

4) one little girl (who is not autistic but has other developmental handicaps) even rides backwards to work on spacial orientations. She LOVES it.

Ask the mom what are some of the goals in his IEP. You might be able to help with them on horseback..

[LynnG]

HI terri and all

The mom is suppose to fill out my student info sheet and send to me before hand. That covers most all areas: goals, handicaps, etc. Alot of the things you mentioned as exercises I do now with my other 5 year student... matching colors, step overs, treasure hunts, etc. I will print out all this and review again...its great info!

I am familiar with EAGALA; will check out their message board. I find looking at and reading Kids books for that age group helps to get into their mindset. And one with great illustrations they just seem to love especially anything to do with animals

Lynn

[Mary1]

Autism has many levels of functioning. I think the lower levels are on sensory overload. When My daughter was young, she couldn't stand looking directly at anything with EYES. Smells overwhelmed her especially. Not sure she could have handled horses back then. I am so glad we were in a pretty stress free lifestyle, for her sake.
You can't assume that she understands a lot. She can appear to be listening but not be. she laughs inappropriately. But is progressing along her path pretty well.
I am sure that there are kids that won't be helped by horses, just as there are some 'normal' folks who don't care for or are afraid of them. The question may need to be Why? for the autistic kids more than others. Are they able to deal with smells, sounds, light, touch.....or will they shut down? Common to autism. Sometimes guiding them into a new experience is the right thing to do. Sometimes it causes them to recoil. Getting info on what shuts them down may help.

[Carol Nelson]

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/36931hayleyfletch.JPG

This is my partner, Doug's, niece, Hayley, riding our quarter horse, Fletch. Hayley has been diagnosed with something such as autism...they have not specifically called it that but it is very similar. They first noticed that Hayley was not developing normally when she was about two years old. She is sixteen years old now...she looks to be ten physically.
Hayley sometimes exhibits very bizarre behaviour...she will shreak out at inopportune times, she will sometimes strike out with her hands, she will sometimes grab items and throw them full force across the room. Her mother, Trisha, describes it this way: "With Hayley, it is all or nothing." She has no motor skills to control her actions.
Since she was small she has had a love affair with Fletch. Fletch is now 19 but he has been carrying Hayley around on his back since she was a toddler. He knows that Hayley is "special". He treats her as though she were a newly hatched egg on his back. If Doug asks him to trot, he will not trot with her on him...although he is the best cow-pony on the ranch.
In the last couple of years now, Hayley has been enrolled in a special equestrian program for children such as she. She has learned to groom a horse, to steer a horse with the reins...to manuever a horse through an obstacle course. Her mother walks along side the horse, with a lead line in her hand, but at no time is she supposed to control the horse. The benefits from being in such a program are astronomical for Hayley...it has done so much to bring more awareness of the world around her.
There is just something so special about the relationship between this little girl and this horse.
Her mother wrote this poem about the bond between this horse and child:

An Ode to Fletch

You always give me a gentle ride
and make it more than play.
I love that chestnut gelding
With the muzzle warm and gray...

When in the saddle I am free
to rein and move in grace...
You know how to walk with me
and never buck or race.

Between this girl and horse she loves
There is a gift, you see...
He wants to please
So she can shine...and dream...and be....

[LynnG]

UPDATE:
The lesson today was very interesting...quite a bit different then my other young student. My mare Maja got to be the lesson horse today, quite calm and steady she was. The other smaller mare I use decided it was not going to be her day to perform still while in the stall. Maja did very well. This was my first experience with an autistic student. He adapted well on the horse and also opened up more once on the horse being very talkative. He was pretty high energy while on the ground. He thought it was funny the whoa and walk, and got that down. It got turned into stop and go, and then a high verbal rate of stop-go-stop-go, which he really thought was fun. Now Maja didn't have a clue at that point, she knew whoa and walk. This was a leadline lesson anyway at this point, so she took her cues mostly from me at this point. He liked the "bridge" (sounding board), the soccer cones and the walkovers. It got windy and was laready pretty cool, so the second lesson for mom was postponed until next weekend.