Rupert & Rowan Isaacson

The boys who started it all. Rowan Isaacson is 9 years old and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in 2004. Rupert, his dad, was born in London to Southern African parents in 1967. A writer, journalist and human rights advocate, Rupert has been a horse nut all his life. Together he and Rowan live and evolve the Horse Boy Method every day at the New Trails Center in Elgin, TX.

Iliane Lorenz

Co-Founder of Horse Boy Method and Horse Boy Dressage, she has worked with Rupert and Rowan since 2009 and helped organize the methods into their current teachable form.

Iliane co-directs the Horse Boy Method trainings co-creates the website, DVDs and other media. She also runs our Horse Boy Herd at New Trails in Texas. A genius on a horse she also teaches Horse Boy Dressage (Stressfree Dressage).

Jenny Lockwood

Jenny is from Yorkshire in the UK and is one of the coolest human beings currently inhabiting planet earth. She is Rowan’s teacher, but also helps Iliane run the New Trails Center. Trains people in Horse Boy Method and helps run Horse Boy Camps.

Jenny is also starting her masters at the University of Texas at Austin in Academic Educational Psychology. She will also be Kristin's Graduate Research Assistant and will research the effectiveness of Horse Boy Camps on the child's functioning (social and language) as well as the family functioning (parents stress levels, sibling relationships, parents relationship etc).

Emily Carter

Another Brit, Emily helps coordinate Horse Boy publicity. She also helps the day to day running of the New Trails Center – critters, horses, et al. Like Jenny, she operates from the UK as well as the USA helping coordinate Horse Boy Camps, Trainings, Demos and other fun. She also co-runs Horse Boy Method Trainings with Iliane, Jenny and Rupert.

Catherine Buttski

From North Carolina, Catherine was trained in Horse Boy Method in Fall of 2011 and joined us at New Trails in 2012. She helps both with the regular sessions with kids and families, with horse training and with helping run New Trails

 

Frida Persson

From Sweden, where she drove forklift trucks for IKEA, Frida joined us in 2011 and brings her lifelong horse and farm experience to bear at New Trails while also assisting in the Horse Boy sessions and our Homeschooling curriculum

The UK Team

Gillian Naysmith

A champion autism mom, Gillian lives in Scotland and runs Horse Boy UK – both the UK wing of Horse Boy Foundation and Horse Boy Camps UK. She came on a Horse Boy Camp in early 2010 with her son Sam and daughter Jaymi. Very soon after that she started organizing and running successful Horse Boy Camps in which some children became verbal and others saw such huge leaps forward that Gillian decided to start running the camps and trainings full time with her colleague Dawn Oakley-Smith and Janine Pendlebury. If you are in the UK, and want to know about or do anything Horse Boy, contact Gillian or Dawn.

Self-Compassion

Kristin Neff

For those who’ve read the Horse Boy Book, or watched the film Kristin is already a familiar figure. Rowan’s mother and Rupert’s wife, Kristin is not about horses at all – which makes her horseback journey across Mongolia all the more heroic. However, Kristin is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the ground breaking book ‘Self-Compassion, Stop Beating Yourself Up and Start Living’. Kristin’s insides into how self-compassion really help deal with the day to day challenges of being an autism parent (or therapist) are truly words of wisdom. We urge anyone interested in living a happier life to read her book.

www.self-compassion.org

 

Our Trainers

Janine Pendlebury

Pen Llyn Lusitanos, Wales, UK - Dressage and Tricks
Visit Jan's Website: www.lusitanoUK.com

Probably one of the 5 best dressage trainers in the world, Janine lives in Wales and runs the Pen Llyn Lusitano Stud. She also runs Horse Boy Trainings and specialized trick trainings. If you’re fascinated by dressage and classical riding in general but always thought it was out of your reach, Jan and her team of amazing Lusitano schoolmasters will show you otherwise. If you want to enter Horse Nirvana go to Jan’s.

Marta Renilla Delgado

Woodland Equestrian Club, Houston, Texas - Dressage
Visit Marta's Website: www.woodlandsequestrianclub.com

Allen Pogue

Imagine a Horse, Dripping Springs, Texas - Tricks
Visit Allen's website: www.imagineahorse.com

Our Horses

It’s important – obviously, to get the right equine team together. Here is our team.  Betsy 24 year old quarter horse mare, Clue 13 year old quarter horse gelding, Hope 14 year old quarter horse mare, Marvel 17 year old Dutch warmblood gelding, Spriti 6 year old Mustang Gelding, Tanwen 12 year old Spanish/TB mare, Reno 17 year old Spanish gelding, Breac 17 year old Warmblood mare.

Betsy:

The horse that started it all. A grumpy quarter horse mare, Betsy becomes miraculously ungrumpy around very young children. She enters a different, almost other worldly state with special needs kids – she half closes her eye, lets her lower lip drop and wont move a muscle, no matter what the distraction as long as they are around her. She has no tricks. All she has to do is be Betsy and let her healing mojo do its thing. Her specialty is sensory work and the ultra collected canter – both for children and volunteer back-riders; She is the one who really teaches people how it’s done.

Clue:

A Colorado bred quarter horse, great with kids, jumps, bows, does Spanish Walk,  Jambettes (presenting the front legs to waves and shake hands), Smile, Pedestal Work, is working on his Piaffe (trot on the spot) and Terre a Terre (canter on the spot) and has a knack of working very gently with kids that have experienced trauma. The George Clooney of horses  - he's a handsome devil, and affable with it. He gives up the tricks work really when the kids cue him kids and teaches newbee volunteers how to trick-train. He’s also amazing for sensory work. Few horses are as generally versatile as clue..

 

Hope:

A 14 year old Texas Quarter Horse, her main job is to be very, very quiet – not the prettiest horse in the pasture but makes up for it with gentleness and all round coolness. Can smile, do Jambettes and helps us with sensory work with parents and children.
It also turns out that Hope was a horse of hidden talents. She never told us she could jump. Now we know... Hope is also our long lining champ and teaches volunteers and students how collected a quarter horse can trot in long lines.

Spirit:

Spirit is a Mustang, caught wild down near Big Bend in the Chihuahua Desert, on the  Mexican/American border. At only 6 years old and feisty, he isn’t a child’s horse to ride, but the children help with his training, especially his bow, his Smile, and his Jambettes. The kids can also cue Spirit how to levade (rear on command) from the ground. Spirit is also working on his Piaffe and jumps like a dream, especially when the kids tell him to. Hes a good example of how you can bring a hot horse into a therapeutic program.

Marvel:

Marvel is a 16.3 hands Dutch Warmblood. Officially a dressage horse, in his secret life a jumper – jumps 5’ without any problem -  and pretend Zebra. Likes art and is always available as a general calming influence for those who need to chill out a little. Marvel learned true collection with Scub (Rowan) on board and a big western saddle. As soon as a child is in the saddle he offers nearly terre a terre canter steps. Marvel is a master in laterals and is now working flying changes. He is one of our favorite for students more interested in the dressage versatility side of things. He loves to play tag! He also just started his canter work in the long lines.

Reno:

When is a 17 hands horse a 15 hands horse? Reno is the proof that a sway back need not hold you back from your dreams. Spanish (P.R.E) and until quite recently a stallion he like Marvel is super chilled a talented dressage dude and he is busy learning his tricks, and finding his expression as an arists. Reno has an amazing collected canter and is our softest and probably sweetest horse. Reno is also a champ on the long lines and lunge line and teaches people how to reach collection.

 

Tanwen:

Tanwen is Spirit’s girlfriend. Together they form the terrible twins. They even ended up in jail before when they escaped from the pasture together and had to be picked up by the sherriff.. She has only recently been started and can have a rear and buck in her. For that reason the kids will never ride her. However she just started working on airs with her and we hope that she - just like Spirit - will help the kids through liberty acts. Tanwen loves to jump and is a prime candidate for more experienced riders that are looking for combined training and dressage versatility. She can easily clear 5’.

Breac:

Breac is a mare on a mission and as long as she can go forward she is very happy. She just recently started piaffe and passage and starts to be really good at her laterals. She loves to jump and clears anything you will point her at. However, once in the long lines, she becomes one of our best horses for the academics on horseback.

 

Eckie:

Eckie is a Dutch warmblood – our piaffe, passage and flying changes schoolmaster hes great with kids, and helps us with our stree-free dressage as well as camps and playdates

 

Conquistador:

A Lusitano stallion Conqui is in his early stages of training but is already a hit as a trick horse and loves the kids. A real ambassador for his level-headed breed

 

The point here is that we have a motley selection of horses – they are selected on personality rather than breed or specific training. Because we live with them, we know them well, and there is a lot of trust between us. Half the battle of getting the right equine team together is really, really spending time with your herd.  We also do a lot of dressage, jumping and trail riding other work to make the week more interesting for them. In fact we do a lot of our dressage training on the trail – we call this Stress Free Dressage and offer courses and trainings for this for horse and rider – if youre interested in learning this and we promise its fun), contact us about it.