As told by Toni McConway, Fort Bend Site Director
We began prepping for Top Hands at the end of last semester and in the trail course is a place where the riders back 3 steps. We worked hard to encourage all riders to back independently and as a result, we had tremendous success with 4 of our riders with autism: Zan, Mathew P, Mathew G and Sean. All of these guys have very limited verbal skills and participation in class. All 4 picked up their reins and pulled back to make the horse back up. Fast forward to the Spring semester, and we continued along the same training path with the backing. All 4 had a holdover in the backing, which was exciting.
The next ride for Zan was particularly exciting. Zan had a lesson where his leader went very deep in a corner to buy some distance from the rider in from of him, which was very appropriate. I did not see his response, but his sidewalker reported to me after class that when it appeared they were too close to the rail, Zan picked up his rein and pulled to turn! (This was when I saw Pat and Molly and we discussed what was a good next step.) The next week, we warmed up, went through the trail pattern once, with Zan executing the backing mechanism. Our next step was to stop and explain to Zan that we were going to tie up and he was going to steer. Although he did not respond verbally, his face showed that he was very excited. He watched very intently as we tied up the lead rope, as if he totally understood what we were doing. Lo and behold, we sent him to begin and he steered the entire course!!! He sat up tall, which he never does, and he executed the course with little or no assistance from his leader!! It was an absolutely joyful experience for everyone involved and the next week when he came to class, Zan was downright giddy when he arrived. Again he steered his horse independently! I can hardly wait to see him this week….
Toni continued to note: it seems to me the backing mechanism had a cause and effect correlation for these riders. I am curious to know if anyone else sees this correlation with any regularity as we have 4 riders who have all had significant gains in their engagement in class, as well as riding skills. The other 3 boys I mentioned have also had similar gains in the same time frame and it is super exciting! It seems logical and kinda magic all at the same time.