Let's take the case of a child who has autism. Nine year old Charlie* came to Magic Moments four months ago. On his first visit, he varied between screaming and throwing himself down on the ground, sometimes, he tried to crawl under the arena fence to get to the horses. It took both his parents and our Director to contain him, and finally, he was put in Time Out and told that he would not ride until he could control himself. This was asking a lot, but Charlie really wanted to ride, so somehow, he managed to calm down enough to undergo putting on his helmet and even tried to brush his horse. The goal for that first visit was to be able to put him on the horse and walk around the arena, even just a few times. Getting him on was another struggle. He did not want to wait for the instructor to recheck the saddle, nor did he want to walk up the mounting block steps. As soon as his horse was brought up, Charlie tried to charge up to her and climb into the saddle. Again, it took several people to contain him, and then the instructor told him that he would not ride unless he cooperated. Once more, Charlie managed to cooperate just enough to be placed on his horse. Once mounted, the child became completely docile. Since that time, Charlie has learned to brush his horse, help with saddling her, and uses verbal commands to tell her when to walk on and whoa. He participates in games that require him to interact with his volunteers and his instructor. His verbalization skills are greatly improved, and his parents have noticed tremendous changes in his behavior at home. This is a straightforward case of using horseback riding to motivate a disabled child to control inappropriate behaviors. Because Charlie and many other individuals like him want the chance to ride – which the rider perceives as a fun activity – he will find ways to overcome behaviors that prevent this from occurring. Once the rider is sitting on the horse, the next step is to encourage interaction. This is done by informing him that the way to get the horse to walk is to verbally tell it to do so.

With Charlie and with our other autistic riders, we have had 100% success in accomplishing this. It takes only a very short time for them to understand that their command is needed, and they willingly oblige. This same principle applies to the games we play during class. The rider will be called upon to name the animal pictured on the card, or the color of the correct ring. It takes only a few tries to bring forth a verbal response. Again, the motivation is to perform the task required so that he will be allowed to "walk on." As the student begins to realize that words are power, the principle will begin to be seen in other situations.

*Not his real name.

written by: Jeanne Brummet, Director