Horse Boy

Corrie was enjoying the band playing Al Jolson classics at the Dunfermline Riding for the Disabled (RDA) fun day in Shiresmill. He used to come here regularly and ride a beautiful mare called Jura... he was lucky enough to get to ride her again just after this shot.

Like a lot of kids with autism and other disablities, Corrie has a remarkable affinity with horses. It never ceases to amaze me how at home he is on a horse. About 3 years ago, Dunfermline RDA organised an evening with Rupert Isaacson, the author of Horse Boy. He wrote a book and made a film about a remarkable pilgrimage him and his wife made with his son Rowan after they discovered his almost supernatural affinity with horses.

They travelled hundreds of miles into remotest mongolia (mainly on horseback) to a nomadic herders community to meet a shaman who somehow, using age old "whateveritistheydo", helped his son overcome the anxiety extremes of his condition(meltdowns, toileting etc.). It wasn't a cure - there's no such thing, but he was a much happier boy afterwards.

The most memorable part of the whole tale for me was, the shaman, through an interpreter, told them that his autistic son would be revered in their culture as someone very special. It's amazing how the oldest and seemingly most primitive cultures have so much to teach us about how we view "disability" -that very word is dismissive in itself. Perhaps we should say "different ability"?

Anyway, we're not about to venture into deepest Mongolia with Corrie, but we were pretty inspired by the whole Horse Boy concept .. we've just got absolutely no idea what to do with it!!

Rainbow Life - By Lewis (who is autistic)
You may think I'm different
The way I think and play
But wouldn't life be boring
If all was the same way

See I will change this world
A little bit by bit
And when my life is over
This will be my gift

I'll leave the world a thinking
A mix of logic and my dreams
And there will be no limits
Nothing will seem extreme

Think of it like ice cream
Some are just vanilla
I'm a rainbow swirl
All colours a shimmer