Equestrian Therapy - week 1

Zane started horse therapy last week and absolutely loves it! Now, this is a kid who doesn't like to be around animals too much and is aversive to them the majority of the time... excepting our cat, Matisow, who pretty much forces himself on everyone... and Zane has finally stopped trying to push him away.

I found out about Hoofbeats to Healing through a chiropractor in the valley, Dr. Troy Frazier. My cousin Paul referred him to me after learning his biofeedback machine wasn't giving accurate readings. Dr. Frazier has one of those machines and works with autism. We have an appointment to see Dr. Frazier this week and hope to learn some new strategies to help Zane.

I learned about Tami Tanner, the horse trainer, through Dr. Frazier's website... after poking around a bit. She works with all kinds of special needs and brain injuries. She uses only Missouri Foxtrotters... horses that are bred for their unusual gait. They walk much like a giraffe, with the side legs coming together. They are very smooth, especially when galloping, and their movement mimics what crawling does for infants for the brain.

Infants learn proprioception, hand-eye coordination, right and left lobe interaction, vestibular development, and a horde of other developmental markers through crawling. Most kids with autism never crawled. Zane didn't. Well... he crawled, literally, for one day. I chalked it up to his superior development. Had I known, I would have spent much more time working with him this way.

Zane rode bareback for his initial consultation. He lasted three laps around the arena before "wilting." Wilting is when the body gives out and can no longer support itself through the horse's movements. The only option when that happens is to take a break or quit for the day.

Zane responded very well to that initial consult. He was quiet all the way home... usually I have an ear full of eeeee's. :) He was compliant when we ran errands before returning home, when usually he complains. Zane has had terrible mood swings for a couple years. I think mostly due to his inability to communicate or whatever anxiety/stress his autism causes. After this ride, he was even-keel the rest of the night and slept soundly in his bed.

We returned the next day for a full session. One and a half hours, in a soft saddle, around the arena and we couldn't get him off the horse to take a break. He would fake giving high fives when the girls reached for him to get down. And finally, patted the horse's neck and asked, "please?" So he got an extra lap around!

That night, there was no fussing, no screaming, no hitting, biting himself, throwing himself down on the ground and hitting his head on the floor, no meltdowns, no tears whatsoever. He also wasn't bouncing off the walls with hyperactivity, humming "eeeeee" all over the house at annoying levels, running everywhere, waving the preferred toothbrush in front of his eyes constantly, or smothering me with choke-hold hugs. In fact, he was more even keeled than I've ever seen him.

The following day, the same even temperament followed us around all day. I kept waiting for an explosion, but it never came. My mother watched him for a couple hours that afternoon and observed the following.

"I tended Zane today. He was enjoying himself in the front room while I was Upholstering a chair. I sneezed twice. He turned and looked me in the eyes and said, "Ah-choo, ah-choo."

"He came up from the basement with a DVD cover in his hand and gave it to me - wanting me to change his movie on the TV downstairs. I picked up two other movie covers from a chair that he had brought up earlier and took all three downstairs with me. When we got to the hallway, Zane said, "Let me do it," He took the first one out of my hand and ran ahead with it to the TV."

By Sunday, three days after his first session, his humming started coming back a little... some 'eeee's here and there but mostly his humming sounds like actual humming - with lips closed. He had an even temperament most of the day - again, no meltdowns, screaming or tantruming. Towards bedtime, however, he started getting more hyperactive and his eeee's began to come back... probably due to being tired.

We came back for session #2 today, Monday, and Zane rode this gray horse, a level 5. This level is the highest level, which horse gives the most impact. We are bombarding Zane with input for the first few weeks by putting him on a horse like this. In Session #1, Zane rode Marquis... another level 5, but different within the level. Zane could ride Marquis for the entire session... but this gray horse Zane had to take several breaks. He cried a little and screamed a little here and there. After one lap around the arena, Zane was already wilting to the left - which means his right brain was dominating.

He didn't seem to like this horse very much and was upset periodically through the session. He only rode for 45 min. The last go around, Zane screamed and reached out to the boy in the purple shirt to get him down... he must have meant it to reach for a stranger like that. Tami told me to watch him the rest of the night. He has been very pleasant... noisy, with his humming, (the lips closed kind, not the eeees), and stayed by my side as we went into the grocery store. Usually he runs off and I have to chase him down. He is happily playing with his iPod and has finally decided to explore the new games I put on there several weeks ago.

We also met with Dr. Frazier today.... who is recommending some different therapies for Zane, but we won't know exactly what protocol to follow until we have him computer tested this Wednesday. He will be able to tell what is going on with Zane, from food allergies, to metal toxins, to neurotransmitters not working properly. I am very excited to work with him. He currently has 3 or 4 autistic patients who they hope will lose their diagnoses this year. Below is a video of his horse riding.... kind of boring, but it is interesting to note his posture with each lap.