RDA/ pony therapy for autistic children?

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Kirwil

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Hello,

Anyone out there with experience working with autistic children and ponies? I used to help out with RDA sessions when I was younger but mostly it was just lead reining riders that had Downs' Syndrome or a physical disability that were very passive on the horse. My parents have bought a pony for my autistic brother and my main issue at the moment is the odd noises that my brother makes. The pony is fab to lead, very trusting of the leader but also very responsive to voice aids and clicking. Is it possible/wise to teach a pony to listen to the leader-not the rider? At the moment the pony still thinks clicking (or other aspie noise) means go faster and gets confused if I'm not letting him speed up. Any help or success stories of this kind of therapy would be amazing!
 
I use to do a lot of work with RDA and have had some very positive results with autistic children and the riding. One boy of 10 had never spoken until about 6 months after he started riding and another who hated to be touched actually took my hand one day on leaving the arena. Little things but a miles stone in their lives.

The pony will adapt, override the noises with voice control and reward with a scratch or with voice when he does do so.

Majority of ponies will adapt to the RDA sessions and will rely on the handler rather than a lot of the riders.

Good luck to you, hope he has fun and it helps him go forward.
 
Ditto above re getting the pony to listen to the handler - providing it's just confused and not frightened by any noises he makes it's really not a problem (I've got one who's petrified of the sound of babies/v small children crying/screeching/laughing - but is fine with all kids over toddler age nattering, shoutind, whatever - bizarre pony).

If ultimately he ends up off the lead then hopefully he'll have steering and kicking to influence the pony underneath.

I've only ever taught those 'on the autistic spectrum', rather than actually 'properly' autistic kids. (That's the wrong way to say that, but you know what I'm trying to say I hope!) All the best!
 
my experience has been that some horses/ponies deal better with [ & i hope this term is not offensive to you ] "unusual" rider behaviour- it may help to talk to the pony almost constantly to focus her attention on the leader rather than the rider - is the rider able to learn a "sush" rule on the pony? or to work on volume [ rather like indoor/outdoor voice rule] - maybe a pony volume rule?
horses & ponies are good at learning to tune out non-essential noises - so constant exposure may teach the pony that these noises mean nothing & can be ignored
i hope the rider gets lots of pleasure from the pony:)
 
Thank you!
I think my mum's long term goal is for my brother to be competant on the pony, I just see it as a way for him to get away from us faster so will not be letting him off the lead rein ever! So for me it makes sense for the leader to overrule rider aids, I don't want to completely ruin him for (off lead) ridden work though. The pony is living in stables next to mum's garden so he's VERY exposed to the noises. Volume rules don't work unfortunately, or there'd be a silence around big sister rule :o He has Aspergers so quite high functioning. :)

ETD: We went for a youngish pony so we could condition him for "unusual" rider behaviour. We figured an older one would probably be less tolerant if subjected to my bro after a lifetime of peace.
 
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I work with people who are affected by austism to varying degrees and some of them come to visit my horse Taz. She also works with a young man with cerebral palsy and learning difficulties and with a disabled woman. I also have RDA experience.

It depends on the pone really how well he adapts to the noises ( re the clicking maybe being for him a cue to go fast ;) ) and to the aids given by either the rider of the leader. I take it he is a calm pone to start with since he has been bought specifically for your brother.


I think to start with you and mum need to agree on whether your brothers aids are to be noted by pone or not .... so as to be consistant for pone. I guess the decision dictates then what role the leader will play ;)


I have a very sensitive to the aids 16 year old welshie and we were unsure how she would react to a rider with very tense and trembling legs ... yet she is absolutely wonderful with him ignoring all the "aids to GO" he gives that would have her disapperaring inot next week if I were to do it :eek: ...... and she listens to what I am asking her when leading. Yet when I ride her she is back to sensitive again.


I dont think there is a "right" answer to this as I have seen some sensitive to the aids horses get quite worried about more energy / confusing aids and normally one might need to habituate a horse to ignore such activity ...... yet others seem to know that the rider has special needs and cope well and like Taz still retain the sensitivity.

Logic would seem to say that if you start a young horse out training it to ignoring a riders legs then it will be hard to somewhere find a place where it will be able to respond to a light aid.

However it is possible to retrain a horse later in life to be light ...... but to have it so both types riders can ride one after the other.

I know its possible because some of out RDA horses were like it... but I think the ones that were were older and had known prior to RDA other lives as SJ or dressage horses. They came later in life to RDA so when non disabled rider got on they could "switch" ...... like Taz.

Not all horses however can do it ... there are many offered and not all are chosen :cool:]]sorry .... no straight answer :rolleyes:
 
Our local RDA group is at a family run RS, the ponies have been known to do a display at a show with the RDA riders (all of who have learning difficulties or mental health problems) and then compete succesfully in the working hunter ring with an able bodied rider. A number of our riders have communication problems, often making 'strange' noises'. All the horses and ponies have coped well with change of rider and different balance and noise of a disabled rider. I am sure this pony will adapt too.
 
Do you think it'd be a good idea to take out a non disabled person and get them to make noises and be silly on board to help condition him or is it better that he learns to differentiate between regular riders and my brother?
Can't say I'm relishing the idea of making stupid noises whilst schooling him in public. :o
 
Check out www.horseboymethod.com for lots of info, I did this course recently and it is excellent.
I wouldn't worry much about the riding, that will come, concentrate on getting the relationship between pony and child. It's possible to trick train the pony so the child thinks he is giving the commands, but really you are cueing the pony. And lots of sensory stimulus, hugs, brushing, round the world etc.
We have a shetland who specialises in autism and depression, she is a wee minx with anyone else but can read these conditions and is a perfect angel.
Horses know much more than we give them credit for, and are so talented in this field that it is a waste just to use them for riding.
 
Can you hop on the pony and do the kind of things that your brother might do and gradually desenitise the pony to these things, like if he clicks, then let you body be completely relaxed and indicate walk, weight down, no life and make a click, and so on , until the pony can cope with lots of clicks with no response, (as in does not go faster, pony just ignores it) .

Would also help if your brother makes sudden moves or somthing like that, that you get the pony used to these kind of things.Pony can be resenitised if necesary.
 
My neighbours child is autistic and the effect of riding on him is great - he is far more easy to manage since starting riding. He was eventually able to ride off the leadrein which also perked him up no end.

I find it amazing how some horses and ponies adapt to dealing with challenged riders. We used to teach a young blind man and the only horse suitable for him was the crankiest TB you would find. He would bite, pull faces, intimidate and buck riders off when he was in his worst mood. But not a murmer from him with this rider, he alloed himself to be felt all over - even tickly bits that would have meant the rider dodging the teeth. He was a complete angel.

A lot of ground work will make sure the pony is totally obedient to the handler when led.
 
I often work with autistic riders - it's great! but I think your Mum should stop worrying about your brother becoming competant in the saddle and start focusing on how the pony can help with other things, such as speech, stillness. relaxation - and very often, hyperactivity. The riding ability will come, but the learning opportunities are immense. it is important that you establish a real on the ground leadership with the pony so that he looks to you for every signal, as others have said, voice and body language. Make sure each session is fun!
 
We were thinking maybe two lead reins when walking the pony out. So my brother feels he's got the bond but should he decide he wants to go off without warning someone else still has control of the pony. We were watching him out of the window today and he has been pulling a chair up to the stable door and talking away quite merrily. Would love to have been able to hear. Very, very sweet. Tomorrow I'm going to help him do some more grooming. He got very distressed (boy not pony) when we worked on the mane as apparently its not a good thing to do to a boy horse but she's looking a bit wild and wooly so could do with a tidy. I too think riding skills are not the main goal. Although it would probably help with his physical problems.

The horse boy website is really interesting and my mum had been given a flyer about a demonstration by the same people. :)
 
Kirwil said:
Do you think it'd be a good idea to take out a non disabled person and get them to make noises and be silly on board to help condition him or is it better that he learns to differentiate between regular riders and my brother?
Can't say I'm relishing the idea of making stupid noises whilst schooling him in public. :o
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same as intouch and others have said .... the horses do know the difference and you cant "fool" them .. by all means habituate the horse / pone to sudden movements etc but for actually cuing the aids I'd keep the aids correct with "able" riders.

If the clicks your borther makes are causing an issue you could consider training the pone to do something you want to a "click" ... like walking / stopping / backing up ..... anything except go faster :rolleyes:



There are lots other things your brother can so that will also make him less of a passenger and more "responsible" for commiunicating with the pone.

eg horse agility

here are some pics of my young friend in a wheelchair and learning difficulties doing it

bagonastick.jpg



tazcurtain.jpg



tomoveothershoulder.jpg



bridge.jpg



tazjump.jpg




just a little of what they do together .... they both enjoy it and its great motivation for phsyio ;)
 
So one month on! It's fab. Only myself and my sister ride the pony out in tack. I was fully prepared for naughty or confused behaviour from a youngster that's only been under a saddle for 6 months but he's brilliant. A little sluggish if anything but he's not exactly fit and on a diet still so probably once he strengthens up he'll be a responsive ride, he certainly responds to downward transitions! :o Lugging me around probably is a bit tiring!
With William, well he's just amazing. The two have bonded and he's so brave around anything now. Odd sounds, pushchairs, being buzzed by low flying aircraft, skateboards :D :rolleyes: William rides him every day bareback, his seat is looking good and the both enjoy it, He just goes out in a head collar so he can get some grass. We're teaching bridle = no snack time.

He does nip at my mum though :confused:
 
pony therapy for autistic children is the best option when i was too young they applied on mr too it really beneficial for the autistic childern.......
 
Kirwil said:
So one month on! It's fab. Only myself and my sister ride the pony out in tack. I was fully prepared for naughty or confused behaviour from a youngster that's only been under a saddle for 6 months but he's brilliant. A little sluggish if anything but he's not exactly fit and on a diet still so probably once he strengthens up he'll be a responsive ride, he certainly responds to downward transitions! :o Lugging me around probably is a bit tiring!
With William, well he's just amazing. The two have bonded and he's so brave around anything now. Odd sounds, pushchairs, being buzzed by low flying aircraft, skateboards :D :rolleyes: William rides him every day bareback, his seat is looking good and the both enjoy it, He just goes out in a head collar so he can get some grass. We're teaching bridle = no snack time.

He does nip at my mum though :confused:
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That's really great to hear - apart from the nipping at mum! Some months back I bought a "problem pony" who has turned out to be a little star and one of the things he now does is to have an autistic boy come and ride him. As the pony is out on loan I don't know much in the way of detail but I do know that the times that he is riding are some of the few times the lad is calm and focussed but still willing and able to listen to advice and instruction, apparently not a situation his classroom teachers would recognise!

I hope your family get everything you wish for for William from his association with the pony.
 
I have helped out with RDA over the years usually in between me having my own horses so I can "give something back". I clearly remember one young lad who was autistic and he never spoke a word to anyone but get him on a pony and he'd sing his little heart out for the entire lesson. Not sure what was going through his mind but it was certainly a positive experience for him. The ponies which were used all seemed to accept sudden movement and noises from the children and didn't seem worried at all.
 
FPErin said:
I have helped out with RDA over the years usually in between me having my own horses so I can "give something back". I clearly remember one young lad who was autistic and he never spoke a word to anyone but get him on a pony and he'd sing his little heart out for the entire lesson. Not sure what was going through his mind but it was certainly a positive experience for him. The ponies which were used all seemed to accept sudden movement and noises from the children and didn't seem worried at all.
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Yes William does love to sing too. It's so stunning to watch these two very green little ponies just let the chaos happen without batting an eyelid, they're not as forgiving with everyone though. :rolleyes:
 
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