horse riding

[raspberrytart]

Has anyone with an autistic child had any success of getting them to wear a hat without major meltdown.We went for a lesson this week and although he was a little bit interested in 'Rocky' the shetland ,when it came to putting on his hat he really didnt like it and was squirming/squealing then getting upset for most of the time.
Should I give up?
Or should I keep at it? I know that it is the hat that he can't deal with, but he can't ride without can he?
I would like to know if I stick at it will it get better
Thank you

my child tried it i must admit i gave up after three tries it just upset him each time could just let him see the horse first and get used to him without the hat and see how it goes but obviuosly has to have the hat on for health and saftey issues and regulations for actuall riding

DS2 hated the hat at first but after about 3 sessions he wore it without complaint. Mind you, he is the sort of child who's fairly easily desensitised to things. You have to keep up the exposure though - after a break he's wary again and when we went camping he refused to wear a riding hat because they tried on three different sizes, even though he really wanted to ride.

Could you bring one home and build up gradually?

If you could stretch to it you could buy him his own jockey skull cap (the pudding basin hats without a peak) and put a silk on it - silks [skull cap covers] can be bought in lots of different colours/designs. Then he'd have his own tailor-made hat which he could try getting used to at home and wouldn't have to try a strange hat on every time he went riding.

The riding school gave us a hat to 'get used to'but he hid it (not very well) under the table. Not sure what to do.I know he would enjoy it without the hat, it just overwhelms everything.

Unfortunately gotta wear a hat I'm afraid. There are quite a few different styles. The modern airflow type riding hats are much lighter weight and give a completely different feeling (more bicycle helmet type feeling) as they dont feel as big, clumsy & heavy and not so encompassing if you know what I mean. Your local saddlers should stock a few different types so maybe worth looking.
In the meantime, maybe just trips to the stables to stroke/brush a pony - afterall, that's what a lot of it's about: bonding, caring, learning. No pressure, just horsey time.
(and who knows, maybe the lure of getting on board will see him deciding to wear a hat...)

I'm the same with hats. It took me a long time to persuade myself to wear one, and I hate the feeling of a hat on my head. But it's regulation and extremely sensible so they really do have to wear them around horses. Even parts of grooming a horse or pony may require use of a hat these days, in case the children bend down near their feet and accidentally get kicked in the head.
There are equine autism/LD therapy centres here and there in the country which allow children to work on the ground with the horses to learn their body language and bond with them. Well worth investigating those.

Keep at it I'd say. My ds hated the hat at first and it took two of us to get it on him but we used to put the hat on then get him straight on the pony, then take the hat off as soon as he dismounted. The sessions were only short to start with but I wasn't prepared to compromise and he had to learn that no hat meant no riding. The more he enjoyed the riding the less he worried about the hat and now he is fine, in fact he often forgets he has it on after his ride and wanders about in it. I still wouldn't be able to get anywhere near him with it at home though!

Keep at it! DD hates wearing a hat, but loves horse riding and realises that no hat=no horse riding. Once she is on the horse, she completely forgets about the hat, until she gets off, when it becomes and issue again.

Horse riding is very therapeutic and great for self-confidence building, so it is worthwhile persevering.