09/17/2025
🐴✨ My son Nico is nine years old, and he loves riding horses. Here’s what it feels like to him…
Horseback Riding
By Nico, age 9
The second my boots hit the stirrups and I climb onto Shandy’s back, I feel like I’m on top of the world. She’s ready to go—I can tell by the way she moves under me—and her excitement makes me excited too. In the arena, I hear all the horses’ hooves thumping in the sand, like a giant drumbeat.
When we ride outside, everything changes. The air smells like flowers and grass. Shandy’s trot bounces me up and down, and then we move into a lope. That’s my favorite. The wind whips through my hair, and I can see it streaming through Shandy’s mane. Her hooves beat steadily, and I listen to her breathing, strong and fast. For a moment, it feels like it’s just me and her and the setting sun.
Sometimes I feel nervous—especially when we ride into places I’ve never been before. My stomach feels tight, and I’m unsure if I can do it. But then I remember Shandy is with me. She keeps me calm. When she gets frisky or too slow, I learn to guide her with my hands and legs. It’s like we’re having a secret conversation. When she listens, I feel proud, like we did it together.
At the end of our ride, I slide off, hug her neck, and kiss her muzzle. She nuzzles me back, tired but happy. We walk together, step by step, like we’re one team.
A Note from Dad
As a mental health professional, lifelong rider, and someone working toward PATH certification, I see every ride not just as a lesson in horsemanship but as a deeply healing experience. Riding builds courage, trust, patience, and resilience in ways backed by science, and it's not just a sport for girls or women.
Here’s what research tells us:
• A study of Equine-Assisted Occupational Therapy with children aged 6–12 who have ADHD found that after a single 45-minute session, participants showed improvements in self-efficacy and positive mood, and decreased negative mood. (PubMed)
• A pilot trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder showed reductions in irritability and hyperactivity, and improvements in social awareness. It also found that cortisol levels (a stress hormone) decreased after horseback sessions. (PubMed)
• Research on human-horse interaction more broadly shows that simply being with horses—caring for them, standing near them, or rubbing them—can increase oxytocin, the hormone linked to connection, safety, and stress reduction. (PubMed)
Why does this matter? Because when boys ride horses:
• They engage their bodies in rhythmic motion, which helps regulate the nervous system.
• They get immediate feedback—horses respond to gentle cues and calm energy—building confidence and trust.
• They face small risks in safe settings, learning that fear doesn’t have to stop them.
Watching Nico ride, I see firsthand how equine therapy does more than improve riding skills—it helps shape a boy’s inner world: his emotions, his sense of safety, his voice.
✨ If you’ve ever seen a child connect with a horse, you know the magic I’m talking about.
