Over approximately seven years of working with autistic children and horses Rupert Isaacson, father of Rowan Isaacson (the Horse Boy) stumbled upon a number of techniques that seemed to bring about better verbal communication with his son.

For some years Rupert and Rowan literally lived in the saddle together on board a Texas Quarter Horse called Betsy. The story of how Rowan opened up to the outside world through Betsy is told in the bestselling book and award winning film, both entitled "The Horse Boy".

Soon after Rowan's success Rupert began working with other local children on the spectrum to see if what had worked with Rowan and Betsy would also work for them.

While no method can ever be right for 100% of people Rupert did find that a sufficiently high percentage of children did seem to benefit in sometimes quite astonishing ways.

After a couple more years Rupert realized that he had a system of techniques in place, that targeted different types of autism spectrum challenges. Since 2009 he has been working internationally with the Horse Boy Method™ at camps and centers in North America and Europe.

Trainings, Certifications and Master Classes

Early in 2010 Rupert realized that he could help many more families by teaching the Horse Boy Method™ to others. Accordingly it is now possible to train and learn the method through a two day training program. We offer different certifications. Very experienced riders and horse handlers, not for novice riders, can get certified including backriding - though novices can either audit the trainings or get certified without the backriding component. We also offer master classes. Completion of the training gives the participant a certificate that allows them to advertise that they are using Horse Boy Method™ in their program. Those who audit a training or follow the basic method guidelines on this website are not certified and may not advertise that they are using Horse Boy Method™. The hands on training is very important.

Demonstrations

We are available to come to your stable for a demonstartion of the Horse Boy Methods. Depending on your location we might be able to bring our horses. Please contact us for more details.

We look forward to sharing our knowledge with you!

Register for a Training

1. Read "How Do I Get certified".
2. Chose the training you would like to attend.
3. Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or +1-512-686-6202
4. Secure your place by paying for the training.
5. Send check and Training Agreement back to us.
6. Practice backriding with a dummy one a western saddle.