Social benefits of riding therapy for autistic children

This post is going to explore social difficulties that autistic children may face and how riding therapy could be beneficial to them.

Social difficulties
The core symptom of autism is difficulty in social interaction. There is often limited eye contact, facial expression and social gestures. It is common that individual have difficulties making friends with same aged peers and often prefer to play alone. Many can also have language impairments and delays in learning to speak, with some not speaking at all (Atchison & Dirette, 2007).

How riding therapy may help autistic children's social interaction.

Riding improves communication skills: Riders learn basic commands to get their horse to go and stop. The horse willingly responds to their instructions and therefore provides the positive reinforcement that motivates them to continue to make their requests.

Riding improves social skills: The horse becomes a friend to interact with, care for and develop a partnership with. The horse will accept a rider with no prejudgment. Learning to control the horse encourages the rider to control themselves and become willing to follow the instructions, co-operate, take turns, share and abide by the rules.


Riding improve self-confidence: Riding is one of the few activities where people can achieve instant success, they get it right and the horse responds. This motivates them to try again and gradually their confidence grows(New Zealand riding for the disabled, 2009).

A 12 week study conducted in Florida found riding therapy to be beneficial for autistic children's social interactions. Children who participated in the riding treatment, were observed to have more social motivation in comparison to the controlled group (Bass, Duchowny, & Llabre, 2009).

I think that the social benefits of riding therapy for autistic children are very exciting. While on placement where I observed riding therapy with an autistic student I noticed improvements in his verbal communication. He began to talk to the horse and even interacted with the side walker staff and gave me a high five when he rode past. THIS WAS AMAZING, as he normally seemed to be in his own little world and not interested in those around him.

Atchison, B., & Dirette, D. (2007). conditions in occupational therapy. (3rd ed). Philadelphia:Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Bass, M., & Duchowny., & Llabre, M. (2009). the effect of therapeutic horseback riding on social functioning in children with autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 39(9), 1261-1267.

New Zealand riding for the disabled, (2009). Riding for the disabled. Retrieved from http://www.rda.org.nz