RDA / Pony Therapy

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Good news: interaction with horses is almost always wonderful for those on the spectrum. Bad news: using a pony to 'lure' playdates can definitely backfire when the autist realizes (s)he was just being used. It's very much like the Aspie student being socialized with only because (s)he is a whiz with the math homework and like the 'techie' engineer being called by 'friends' only when something goes wrong with their computers. These acts of taking advantage of a socially 'inept' person occurs at any age, any status, any class. I really hope for your family that this isn't going to be the case. btw, I think it's wonderful you're able to do the training yourself. It takes too much(?) courage to set your child on a horse that's been trained/handled by someone else (who may or may not have had Autists in mind during the training). Please remind your child to wear a helmet.

I've been away at uni so not had time to check back in on this thread for ages! We have two welshies now and its going great. My brother's riding is coming along really well and its good to get him away from all the computer games and dvds he's currently obsessing over. The other children have stopped coming along now its wet and miserable and I think the ponies are happier just with us riding them. Well actually one pony (the newest) literally only lets William ride him! He's good on a lead rein with any of us but refuses to be ridden! I managed to get him 10 meters before he planted his feet and refused to leave the yard! He's still a baby so going to wait until the summer before training him properly but its pretty cool they've got a strong bond (annoying for me because I really wanted to ride him!)

That's really nice. It reminds me of a bit in the horse boy book when the boy approaches a difficult horse in the wrong way and the horse acts completely different around him.

I'm a bit obsessive about horses. I find I can have problems with the people at the riding school and the unpredictability and everything is verbal e.g. quite often you have to phone. I am also an anxious rider. I enjoy being around the horses, and animals in general.

My mother is a massive horse fan, I had countless riding lessons as a kid(which I hated) horses are large, stinking things, honestly, I'ts the smell that got me, that will hardly listen to any command given. Riding them was not at all therapeutic and I have since learnt that when it comes to horses, the French had the right idea. There is actually a lot of meat on the average horse(I'm vegetarian but I'd turn if horse was on the menu).

The only pony therapy I've had is watching My Little Pony.

I have ridden horses on a few occasions and I enjoyed it, but I guess the topic is about something slightly different.

I've never been horse-riding in my life. I used to be scared of horses when I was small.

For the first time this week we really got to see just how ultra chilled our therapy ponies are compared to most. Had to take in a horse that had been found running loose locally and it was so stressed by our yard and being lost too I think, in the end I bought one of ours over to try calm it down which helped a little but ours didn't mind the police in luminous clothes, dogs, strangers. It would appear my brother's very unusual and unpredictable behaviour has made them at ease with anything, even fireworks going off nearby! Once a pony has been asked to skateboard I guess everything else seems easy to handle.

On the otherside of the relationship, my brother's ticks have pretty much stopped since all this riding. He's much more aware of himself physically.

Ditto on the fall+anxiety thing. I am currently horseless (not really my idea, I got "screwed over by the barn owner where I was keeping him.)
I do have a [/b]fabulous[b] trainer now and I'm still working toward low jumpers/baby events.
I hope to be back in the saddle by late Jan. or mid Feb. at the latest. ( I just got over a 3 week-long cold so I have to build back up @ the gym)

My horse's name was Finny (Finnegan's Lad) he's an 8yo 16hh bay TB, green hunter. I miss him.

To the OP: I think It's fabulous that your brother is doing so well.

Beat me to it. The easy stuff NT's might get from an early age that the show teachs are things autistics fail to grasp sometimes, it's a great show for autistics.

I mean, if you can handle it.

I did Riding for The Disabled when I was younger. I'm not sure why, as I know I didn't have an AS diagnosis at that age (it wasn't even in the DSM yet).
It did bugger all for my socialising (just as easy to ignore people on a horse), but it was fun and easy.

Wow, that's cool stuff. And good for you.