Our daughter Stephanie was born in 2005. At 1 year old she had stopped babbling and she went into herself. She did not learn and play like others her age and our pediatrician at the time saw nothing wrong. At 2 years old, I asked our pediatrician for the reasons why and what we should do for our child who was not talking and not "getting" things as other did like imitation or how to play. We were told that she was just being shy and I (mom) was being too good of a mom by attending to her needs before she had a chance to ask or indicate what she needed. We were also told that she'd catch up with everything and everyone else and was actually ahead on some growing developments. By age 3, I was tired of being told this was normal and not to worry by people and the doctor. I went in and told the doctor what I thought and she said she still didn't see that much of an issue, however, since I was concerned she gave me a pamphlet for early intervention services and suggested I contact them.

In August of 2008, I took Stephanie in for testing and was told that my 3 year old was on a level of a 9-15 month old on many learning and ability levels. Her receptive and expressive capabilities were very low for her age. I was recommended immediately to start her into a 5 day a week preschool, speech therapy (ST) 3 times a week for 30 minutes at a time, physical therapy (PT) 2 times a week for 20 minutes at a time, occupational therapy (OT) 2 times a week for 30 minutes at a time and other physical therapies outside of that. I was also told that I needed to make an appointment with Children's Hospital to get a diagnosis for her, because the tester believed it was more than just a simple learning disability. We got her into preschool, ST, PT, OT and scheduled an appointment with Children's Hospital for December, which was the soonest we could get her in. In the meantime, with all of the therapies and preschool, plus the work I did with her at home, I researched an researched some more to learn that she might have autism and the many therapies available, medical and non-medical. We took her to an alternative doctor and she received supplements in November because he knew it was autism and how to start to combat it.

In December at Children's Hospital, Stephanie was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified on the Autism Spectrum. We continued with all of the therapies we had started from August 2008 through December 2008. She had gained some ground on some learning and understanding, she started to use sign language to communicate, and she started "getting" some things like others did. She would play, but by herself and still showed no imitation. Once she learned something or "got" something, she didn't forget it so it seemed the therapies were working but she needed more. She still had not started to talk or have balance (she fell down a lot), walked corrked and could not run, jump or even stand on one foot.

By February 2009, we finally got wraparound services. A Behavior Specialist Consultant (BSC) and Therapeutic Staff Support were assigned to give therapy at the house.

We felt there was more we could do to get our Stephanie back and to heal her from autism, so we researched some more and found horse therapy as another treatment. I was recommended to Blue RIbbon Farms where we met the owners Dan and Chris and a trainer, Jess. Stephanie seemed to like them all. Stephanie started horse therapy in June of 2009 at age 4. After just a few times with "Ebby" the horse and Jess her trainer, she seemed to brighten up more and more. She understood that when I told her we were going to see Ebby and Jess, she would go get her boots and she would get happy. As the months have passed, Stephanie has become more and more connected to Ebby and Jess.

According to her wonderful teacher who really paid attention to the changes in Stephanie, she became more focused at school, started to imitate others, made contact with the other children and her overall listening and doing things became better.

Her BSC and TSS have said how much her focus on tasks and her wanting to do more has improved along with her speech, balance and willingness to be more outgoing.

The occupational therapist said she was amazed at how well Stephanie was doing at understanding things more, the strength in her hands had improved along with her ability to focus on work and how much more she wanted to do the work infront of her.

Her physical therapist actually decided to decrease her by 1/2 hour because the strength in her arms and legs had increased by such a great amount. He was very impressed with the results of horse therapy. She now can stand on one leg, jump with both feet, run normally, walk straigh, balance completely and most importantly - no more falling down!

The speech therapist has noticed how calm and more focused the horse therapy has made Stephanie. Since she has started, she has mostly gone away from using only sign language and pictures to communicate. She speaks more and more and can clearly say the words to communicate. Another compliment was how much her personality has blossomed.

What my husband and I see most in horse therapy is the increase in balance at home, in play and all around things she does whcih she has gained from learning to balance on the horse. She can now take a nap because she is calm enough. She has learned right and left, how to go and how to stop. She wants to be there and to do the work, her focus on the task she is doing and the routine she has learned and has not forgotten. It's not just about riding a horse - It's taking care of Ebby the horse (which is a good responsibility for anyone to learn), learning the process of grooming and tacking up Ebby to be ready to ride, learning to ride, and the cool down and untacking process of Ebby after riding. This also includes taking Ebby back to her stall and giving Ebby a treat and sometimes feeding her. Because of all of this, Stephanie has achieved many things: Personality, happiness, talking, imitating, making contact with others her age, compassion for other humans and animals, figuring out how to do things, how they work, her being able to communicate with us and us with her, balance, stronger legs and arms, walking, running, jumping on both feet, standing on one leg, learning and wanting to learn more. Oh, and by the way - she no longer needs physical therapy! She now tried to climb on Ebby with the use of a footstool and knows how to do it! Of course, Stephanie still has her tough days once in awhile, but who doesn't have tough days?

A good example of how we know it works is this... Over the winter when it was really cold, we were unable to get out to do horse therapy. It was over 2 weeks until we could ride again and that was TOO long for Stephanie. She lost her focus in her work with TSS, ST, OT and with me. The therapists asked what was going on and what was being done differently with Stephanie. When we finally returned to Ebby it seemed she had lost interest in her too, but after just 4 visits she was back and focused on Ebby! She didn't forget anything and she just seemed to be in a hurry to get going again. She didn't want to listen to what she was expected to do. Once she was back in the routine with Ebby, it showed. Her TSS, ST and OT therapists all said that the difference with and without horse therapy was a considerable change in her focus and happiness. Stephanie loves to go to the barn and see everyone and all of the horses. She likes to ride and do the routine with Ebby and Jess and me.

Horse therapy truly makes a difference and helps with supplements, speech, occupational, physica, TSS and at-home therapies that Stephanie has done. It is so amazing and I am so thankful and blessed to have found Jess, Ebby, Dan and Chris of Blue Ribbon Farms. It really has helped my daughter's life to help her recover and heal from her battle with autism. Stephanie is doing so well and is such a happy 4 year old (soon to be 5)! She has come such a long way this past year. We believe without horse therapy she would not be this far along with just the other treatments alone.