Autism And

Horses

Traditionally, the interaction between man and horse happens through training and conditioning horses to respond to certain stimuli. In reality, those trained actions still coexist with instincts, experience, and emotions – components that can be difficult to control when the horse does not comply with our request because he is attentive or anxious. This equine behavior can also bring stress and anxiety for us riders. At Human Horse Sensing, we have developed a system for horsemanship based on a dynamic dialogue through behavior, allowing us to always manage the relationship and not be limited by the stiff boundaries of training.

This approach has also worked for riders affected by autism. John Mitchell, one of our autistic students, has reached a level where he can ride with a bareback pad, participate in a NATRC ride, and go on trails while controlling his horse and following directions.

Autism is a human neurological and developmental disorder that derives from a combination of genetic, nongenetic, and environmental influences. Autism affects how people communicate, learn, behave, and interact with others. The symptoms generally appear in the first two years of life and have a heavy impact on the life of an individual.

Riding horses has been found to be therapeutic for people with autism. Analyzing the benefits of it can add to how we can help people with autism.

At Human Horse Sensing, the relationship between human and horse – both naturally social species – is considered as a spontaneous event. Communication with the horse is purposefully modulated through movement considering the sense through which it is received. It can be applied in any equestrian discipline on the ground (through sight, hearing, and touch), in the saddle (through touch and hearing) and in training a horse.

The horse has a basic instinctual response to movement by either moving away from approaching things or moving toward things that interest him. If we receive the response we were seeking, our communication was appropriate. If we get a different response, we reformulate the request without punishment, as punishing a noncompliant horse often results in that horse avoiding us in the future. We do not use force and fear because they can trigger a dangerous response through the horse’s survival instincts.

Experimenting with this kind of human-horse relationship has shown us that there are five common concepts between human and horse related to social meaning and instinctual behavior:

1.Coexistence: Comfortably sharing the surrounding space and presence of one another

2. Trust: The horse allows the individual to approach his personal space.

3. Respect: The ability to ask to occupy the space of the other individual

4. Willingness: The ability to herd the other individual from behind

5. Attention: Being attentive to the same situation or directing the other’s attention

Human Horse Sensing Horsemanship builds a dynamic social relationship that can be cooperatively modulated in real time. The interaction between rider and horse always happens by nonverbal communication, which is a way that works for autistic individuals. This happens through the motor, emotional, and sensory perceptions, because horses constantly respond to the rider’s body language that they perceive.

During this kind of cooperative interaction, we give our actions a form that horses understand. Rather than being forced because they are scared or inconvenienced by tack, they want to participate. When horses experience a pleasant interaction, they seek time with humans even when it involves the practice of an equestrian discipline.

We have seen that the sensory experience autistic individuals have while being with a horse or riding one can be calming and bring significant behavior changes. It encourages positive actions and gently discourages negative ones, allowing them to focus, think, and even accept training. The reason for this is that autistic individuals experience that the horse perceives their nonverbal communication through the movement and responds to it, making them feel successful in their interaction with the horse.

One of the traits that horses have, and that is very helpful for people with autism, is that horses can perceive emotions and respond by behavior, and because of this, autistic people can often relate with the horses better than they do with other human beings. This experience can also foster social and communication skills they can use with other people.

Although autistic individuals can have problems connecting emotionally, making eye contact, communicating how they feel, and expressing themselves to others, the interaction through movement with the horse lets them experience efficient physical communication. When we let them pat, hug, or even groom a horse they learn to care for them through this experience, associating the care they give to the horse with feelings that create an emotional bond.

Autistic people normally have difficulty understanding directions, but when they are experiencing a fun activity like riding a horse, they tend to take directions and remember them. They experience directing a horse and seeing the results of their communication to another individual, which can motivate them to learn to communicate with other human beings as well.

Another important benefit of riding a horse comes from the sensory perception of the balance and the spatial orientation that happens through the vestibular organs, and this experience engages autistic individuals and motivates them to persist in the activity of riding horses or just being with them.