"Let's go horse riding, Mum!" (a story by Nikki and Penny Watts)
Nikki at Pegasus in the early days, with her coach Jo
Hello, my name is Penny Watts.
My husband Steve and I have two beautiful children, Nikki (8) and Mattie (4). When Nikki was two and a half years old, she developed epilepsy and autism.
As you can appreciate, her behaviour changed radically with the autism and we had to learn many new strategies to help her to learn and live in our world. Our world can be so threatening and overwhelming for an autistic child. I spent a lot of time identifying activities and therapies for her to undertake in order to assist her development and to enrich her world. There are so many therapies that autistic children can benefit from, such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and so on. These are all very expensive. But not very long after Nikki’s diagnosis, I discovered an amazing program that provided incredible benefits and value for money - Pegasus Riding for the Disabled.
Nikki started riding with Pegasus when she was around three and a half years old. As you can see from the adjacent photo, she was small, round and very cute. It’s very hard to describe the joy that Nikki displayed when riding her horse at Pegasus, and its effect on me. All I can say is that it was heart breaking to see my daughter regress into the world of autism and react to her environment in either an aggressive or unresponsive way. But there she was, astride her beloved horse, her joy and happiness clearly visible …. She had made a real and affectionate connection with her horse. Nikki had gained access to an extraordinarily professional and dedicated crew of people that not only help her learn to ride but afford her an opportunity to enjoy being with a horse, getting to know other children and people, and to undertake a sport that many of her neuro-typical peers don’t have access to. From the very first lesson, I have had the pleasure of watching her coach, side walkers and leaders encourage her to communicate, to listen and carry out instructions and to take turns – all of which can be quite challenging for the autist. And her skills have grown so much since then.
When Nikki first started learning to ride at Pegasus, she had difficulty focusing, would avoid communicating with the volunteers who supported her and she would resist following any instructions, particularly if she had to process information. She also had a lot of difficulty in sorting her left from her right, which made it very hard for her for to learn to independently steer her horse.
But about two months ago, Nikki began to manouvre her horse through an obstacle course inside the arena, with the lead rope completely removed. Yes….. she had finally begun to ride unassisted, with the volunteers only on hand to offer verbal encouragement where necessary. Tears fell with joy as I watched her pride and pleasure at being able to navigate her horse from left to right through the pre-prepared course. Then, just to be sure, the path was ‘narrowed’ for a second attempt in order to reinforce the need to carefully turn the horse at the appropriate moment. When her coach, Jo, awarded her a red ribbon for her efforts, Nikki was so happy that she couldn’t wait to get home to show daddy what she had achieved.
Now, whenever I pick Nikki up from school on a Tuesday afternoon, she bounds down the steps and shouts with joy ‘Lets go horse riding Mum.’ It’s great to hear the joy in her voice, but perhaps its even better to see the look of respect and envy on the faces of the other children that hear her as she goes by. ‘Cool …’ they say and smile. Nikki then walks a little taller, knowing that there are some things that she can do that many of her peers cannot.
‘Cool …’ she whispers in return.
Thank-you Pegasus for bringing equestrian skill and spontaneous joy into my daughter’s life.
My husband Steve and I have two beautiful children, Nikki (8) and Mattie (4). When Nikki was two and a half years old, she developed epilepsy and autism.
As you can appreciate, her behaviour changed radically with the autism and we had to learn many new strategies to help her to learn and live in our world. Our world can be so threatening and overwhelming for an autistic child. I spent a lot of time identifying activities and therapies for her to undertake in order to assist her development and to enrich her world. There are so many therapies that autistic children can benefit from, such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and so on. These are all very expensive. But not very long after Nikki’s diagnosis, I discovered an amazing program that provided incredible benefits and value for money - Pegasus Riding for the Disabled.
Nikki started riding with Pegasus when she was around three and a half years old. As you can see from the adjacent photo, she was small, round and very cute. It’s very hard to describe the joy that Nikki displayed when riding her horse at Pegasus, and its effect on me. All I can say is that it was heart breaking to see my daughter regress into the world of autism and react to her environment in either an aggressive or unresponsive way. But there she was, astride her beloved horse, her joy and happiness clearly visible …. She had made a real and affectionate connection with her horse. Nikki had gained access to an extraordinarily professional and dedicated crew of people that not only help her learn to ride but afford her an opportunity to enjoy being with a horse, getting to know other children and people, and to undertake a sport that many of her neuro-typical peers don’t have access to. From the very first lesson, I have had the pleasure of watching her coach, side walkers and leaders encourage her to communicate, to listen and carry out instructions and to take turns – all of which can be quite challenging for the autist. And her skills have grown so much since then.
When Nikki first started learning to ride at Pegasus, she had difficulty focusing, would avoid communicating with the volunteers who supported her and she would resist following any instructions, particularly if she had to process information. She also had a lot of difficulty in sorting her left from her right, which made it very hard for her for to learn to independently steer her horse.
But about two months ago, Nikki began to manouvre her horse through an obstacle course inside the arena, with the lead rope completely removed. Yes….. she had finally begun to ride unassisted, with the volunteers only on hand to offer verbal encouragement where necessary. Tears fell with joy as I watched her pride and pleasure at being able to navigate her horse from left to right through the pre-prepared course. Then, just to be sure, the path was ‘narrowed’ for a second attempt in order to reinforce the need to carefully turn the horse at the appropriate moment. When her coach, Jo, awarded her a red ribbon for her efforts, Nikki was so happy that she couldn’t wait to get home to show daddy what she had achieved.
Now, whenever I pick Nikki up from school on a Tuesday afternoon, she bounds down the steps and shouts with joy ‘Lets go horse riding Mum.’ It’s great to hear the joy in her voice, but perhaps its even better to see the look of respect and envy on the faces of the other children that hear her as she goes by. ‘Cool …’ they say and smile. Nikki then walks a little taller, knowing that there are some things that she can do that many of her peers cannot.
‘Cool …’ she whispers in return.
Thank-you Pegasus for bringing equestrian skill and spontaneous joy into my daughter’s life.
Nikki confidently navigating obstacles on her horse Queenie, with assistance from volunteer, David
