Our Mission
The Horse Boy Foundation supports equine-assisted services aimed at neuro-psychiatric conditions, and education that combines nature and the mind. We challenge the outdated paradigm that suffering is necessary for learning, that coercive methodologies can be called therapy, and that nature and movement can be divorced from well-being.
For too long, education and therapy have relied on pressure, compliance, and endurance. Neuroscience asserts that there is another, better way — one grounded in movement, curiosity, relationship, and respect for the nervous system, human and equine alike. We support over 100 initiatives worldwide from schools to equine therapy centres, to outdoor learning and therapeutic centres that change real lives in real time.
Over the past two decades we have positively impacted hundreds of thousands of lives in over 30 countries and are still growing.
What We Do
The Horse Boy Foundation funds and supports movement‑based learning and therapeutic approaches for people affected by autism, trauma, anxiety, PTSD, and related neuro‑psychiatric conditions. These include but are not limited to Horse Boy Method, Movement Method, Takhin Equine Integration and other nature and movement baed programs.
Our focus is on approaches that work with the nervous system rather than against it — approaches that recognize how humans and animals actually learn.
Over 300,000 Families helped in over 30 countries in 20 years of operation
What We Support
Horse Boy Foundation supports:
- Scholarships for children, adults, and families to access effective movement and nature-based learning and therapeutic services
- Education and training for practitioners, programs, and partner organizations offering equine and nature7movement based learning
- Initiatives that reconnect movement, learning, and mental and physical wellbeing — for both people and for horses
Why This Matters
The Neuroscience is clear – when learning environments ignore the body, the nervous system (including the brain), and the relational context, stress rather than learning becomes the norm.
We believe learning can be effective without being harmful — and that this principle applies equally to people and to horses. We believe that learning delivered with empathy in an environment that respects what the human organism is designed for (freedom to move, natural light, natural materials, a sense of community), it is at its most effective.
Neuroscientists and physicians back our work – to such an extent that Eastern Virginia Medical School asks the Foundation to help host a bi-annual Neuroscience Conference. In addition to helping fund the centers doing the on-the-ground work with children, families, trauma survivors and more, we partner with numerous universities studying the effects of nature and equine assisted programs on the human mind, supporting studies at University of Edinburgh, University of Texas, Manchester Metropolitan, University of Gothenburg, Grand Canyon University, Bournemouth University and more.
Our History
When founder Rupert Isaacson’s nonverbal autistic son Rowan began speaking in the saddle in front of him on a quarter horse mare called Betsy, he realized that it was certain patterns and rhythms of movement that made the speech occur. He reached out to renowned Autist, Animal Behavior expert and Neuroscientist Dr Temple Grandin for mentorship and realized that the same movements and rhythms produced off the horse could also get very similar learning results. He founded the New Trails Centre for Equine Assisted and Outdoor Learning in 2007 and began working with other families. The results were so successful that he reached out to neuroscientists, notably Dr Robert Naviaux and Allyson Muotri at the University of California to find out why. Their explanations allowed Isaacson and his partner Iliane Lorenz to structure their approach into Horse Boy Method and Movement Method and begin training other practitioners. Within a few years the methods had spread to many countries. Today, the Foundation supports practitioners and institutions all over world, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of families.
The Horse Boy Foundation began in 2007, first existing under an umbrella nonprofit and becoming a standalone charitable organization in 2011.
While programs and locations have changed over time, the mission has remained the same: to support learning and development without unnecessary suffering using equine, nature and movement-based approaches. We are excited to see that, more and more, these neuroscience nature-based approaches are being accepted into mainstream schools, therapy practices and equine assisted programs
Support the Mission
The Horse Boy Foundation relies on private donors and partner organizations to fund scholarships, education, emerging initiatives and university studies that help bring these approaches from the margins into the mainstream where they belong.
Your support helps make learning environments more humane, effective, and sustainable. It helps create tangible positive outcomes for children and adults with neuro-psychiatric conditions worldwide.