Kera Willis admits she was one of those horse-crazy girls as a child. Willis, who now works as a special needs assistant at the Whistler Waldorf School and teaches kids riding skills, thinks she has found a way to marry her life's greatest passions through therapeutic riding, which helps treat those with special needs, including autism, through contact with horses.
Next week, the still-horse-crazy Squamish woman is embarking on a summertime journey to Elgin, Texas, to undergo training in an innovative form of therapeutic riding from its creator, Rupert Isaacson.
Isaacson's book, The Horse Boy (also a documentary film of the same title), details his interactions with his autistic son Rowan. The book, to which Willis was introduced while undergoing therapeutic riding certification training in Ontario, documents a trip the father and son took on horseback across Mongolia.
[Isaacson] went on this trip with his son tantruming and not even being able to use the toilet on his own and he came out of it calm and able to have full conversations, Willis said.
Developed through Isaacson's interactions with his son, the Horse Boy Method involves backriding in which the autistic child rides behind an experienced rider, who guides the horse through a disciplined dressage routine rule-based games and even academics on horseback. Not touted as a cure but merely a treatment for autism, the method has been documented to release the feel-good hormone, Oxytocin, Willis said.
Over the past few months, Willis has enjoyed working with a boy through horsemanship lessons on Dublin, a horse she bought from a local trainer after the animal became impatient with the competitive environment, which she said can be stressful for the animals. Dublin was offered up for sale after he began bucking off some of his riders, she said.
The interactions between the horse and boy have been extremely beneficial to both, she said.
I've had [Dublin] for a year and I've started to teach kids on him and he's been super lovely, Willis said.
Next Wednesday (June 26), Willis plans to embark on a four-day driving trip to Texas to begin a seven-week internship, after which she aims to return to Squamish certified to offer the Horse Boy Method as part of her equine teaching business, Mountain Horse School.
It is my goal to become a resource for the autistic community from Vancouver to Pemberton, she said in a statement.
Tonight (Thursday, June 20) from 7 to 10:30 p.m. at the Squamish Adventure Centre, Willis is hosting an educational and fundraising event she's calling If Wishes Were Horses. It will include a screening of the Isaacson film as well as a silent auction that aims to help her defray the cost of her travel and training in Texas. Local singer-songwriter Shone Harcourt will also perform at the event.
As well, Willis has set up an account on Indiegogo, at which donations are being sought. For information, go to Facebook or Indiegogo and search for If Wishes Were Horses.
Learn more about the Horse Boy Method -
