The Horse Boy Foundation runs a small learning and equestrian center – The New Trails Center – in Elgin, Texas, just outside of Austin.
We bring special needs (mainly kids on the autism spectrum) children and ‘neuro-typical’ (ie ‘normal’) children together, using the horse as a social nexus. We have no specific program – each child is catered to according to their own needs. Our horses are highly adaptable. We believe strongly that special needs kids, and kids on the autism spectrum, can go way beyond mere equine therapy. We believe they can truly ride, and should have the opportunity to do so. Our mission is to bring horses and the children that need them together. Pure and simple.
What They Do
The chance to ride and benefit from close contact with horses, other animals, and nature. Children with neurological issues seem to benefit especially from this, but obviously children with no specific issues, who just want to connect with animals and nature, also benefit enormously.
We invite you to contact us, let us know your situation and come out with your own therapist. We offer premises, animals, and trained staff to facilitate, whether the goal be occupational therapy, ABA, academics, straight riding lessons, or some combination of them all.
We do not charge for our services, but rather encourage those who come to donate whatever is appropriate and within their budget.
The Horse Boy Story
In April 2004 our director Rupert Isaacson’s son Rowan was diagnosed with autism. At first he seemed unreachable. However, whenever his dad took him into the woods behind their house his tantrums and stimming would relax. Contact with nature seemed to calm Rowan’s dysfunctions.
Read the full details …
http://www.horseboyfoundation.org/horseboystory.html
The Horse Boy Movie
The Horse Boy does more than chronicle Rowan and his parents’ journey across the vast, wild landscape of Mongolia. It delves into the strange world of autism itself, the relationship between humans and animals and between different cultures and different ways of being (autistic vs. normal, or “neuro-typical”), and the nature of healing.