Horse fail

One of the suggested helps for those with special needs is hippotherapy -- working with a therapist and using horses for therapy. It's something I've thought about for Buddy since he's been on a few smaller horses in the past and seemed to enjoy it.

I have the video to prove it.

Exhibit A. Riding a pony at a dairy farm we visited while in Florida over Christmas. No worries, right?

So I was understandably eager to find a nearby place that provides hippotherapy to get him started (he's still showing evidence of low muscle tone and lack of coordination in his movements--things which hippotherapy is supposed to address). I checked around and found a place not five minutes away (and believe me, there's not much that's just five minutes away from us).

A few Fridays ago, I took the boys to meet with the owner. Buddy was looking forward to "seeing some horses," but when we got there, we didn't get the chance to actually get close to the horses since it was a bit rainy. So, we made plans to go back on Monday and start. I talked about it with him over the weekend, explaining that we'd go see the horses and maybe ride one of them, trying to get him ready for what we'd be doing.

But when Monday rolled around and we rolled into the parking lot at the stables, something snapped in his brain and he decided horses weren't for him. He started crying (and I mean crying) when we got there and just wouldn't stop. He wasn't interested at all in seeing the horses or getting near them.

I really don't know what happened -- too much talking ahead of time? Anxiety is common among those with WS, so I'm wondering if somehow I made things worse by talking about it with him? I don't know. But it seems, for now, that hippotherapy will not be on the agenda for the summer.

So we'll move on to something else -- music therapy, I guess . . . .