Duration: 2 day (approx. 6h per day)
Cost:
- $750 for Riders and Handlers (costs for workshops may vary; prices DO NOT Evaluation phase to become a certified Practitioner)
- $495 for non-riders ($250 day 1 and $250 day 2 — does not qualify to become a Practitioner)
Qualification for: 1* Star Horse Boy Method Practitioner
Designed for:
- Therapeutic riding instructors
- Riders with an interest in Autism
- Equine professionals
Requirements:
- Completed Horse Boy Method 1 as Rider
- Age 16 and older; neuro-typical only (for young adults on the spectrum check with your trainer regarding participation)
- Must be able to comfortably ride at walk, trot, and canter.
- Must be able to go on fast trail ride at walk and trot over steep banks and slopes
Can I bring my own horse?
Unfortunately, for this course it’s not possible to bring your own horse. We are using trained school horses that can ensure all participants can successfully complete the exercises.
At some workshops it’s possible to bring your own horse to take additional lessons with your horse before or after the actual workshop at an additional cost. Please check in with your trainer if you are interested to bring a horse and take extra lessons.
What will be covered in Horse Boy Method 2?
In this 2 day workshop we cover our proven system of preparing a safe, sound and fit back-riding horse that you can rely on when working with children with autism. It is important that you follow a system of lunging, in hand and ridden work to ensure safety of everybody involved. This course goes step by step into how to make your horse a back-riding horse. This system works for any type of horse and you will see us working here with backyard cowponies, Warmbloods, Iberians and crosses in between.
- Theory and basic rules of collection according to the Old Masters: We use the La Gueriniere, Oliviera, and Steinbrecht approaches
- How to muscle the horse’s back through lunging
- How to show the horse how to carry himself and how to show the rider classical contact through introduction to shoulders in and travers
- How to eliminate the three points of resistance on the horse (jaw, poll, and quarters) without force
- How to make the horse easy off the hand and leg through count down exercises at walk and trot
- How to achieve the smooth canter transition and the smooth transition from canter to walk
- How to backride over natural country without losing the horse’s balance
- How to answer any questions the horse might ask while backriding
- How to teach the horse neck-reining for easy one handed riding
- How to negotiate steep banks and slopes at the trot one handed using the seat to balance the horse
What to bring
- If you ride, please bring proper riding attire (boots, jeans or other riding pants, helmet, gloves etc)
- Please bring plenty of water to drink and something to snack on.
- Notebook and pen