About Horse Boy Foundation

We support camps for whole families where neuro-plasticity and learning then translate to the home.

Our Origins

The Horse Boy Foundation is still run by founder Rupert Isaacson and co-director Iliane Lorenz, a continuity spanning two decades. We are a charitable organization dedicated to improving how humans learn and heal — and to fostering more responsible, humane relationships with horses within those processes.

Our work is grounded in a simple but often overlooked principle: effective learning does not require suffering. When movement, relationship, and nervous-system regulation are respected, learning becomes sustainable, humane, and meaningful.

Who We Are

The work that led to the Horse Boy Foundation began in 2007 first through Rupert Isaacson’s pioneering equine and nature based work with his autistic son Rowan, who resisted all orthodox therapies and learning approaches, and developed – with mentorship from Dr. Temple Grandin and leading neuroscientists such as Dr. Robert Naviaux, Dr. Allyson Muorti and more latterly Dr Stephen Peters – into direct, hands-on, neuroplasticity-building work with children and families affected by autism and related challenges. Out of this practical work grew a set of movement-based and relational approaches – Horse Boy Method (2012), Movement Method (2015) and Takhin Equine Integration (2024) that show consistent, real-world results., studied by numerous universities and practiced in over 30 countries

In 2011, the Horse Boy Foundation was established as a standalone charity to ensure that these approaches could be made accessible beyond any single family, location, or program. Today it funds individual equine assisted centers, family scholarships, academic studies, equine well being and nature based learning initiatives all over the world.

The Horse Boy Story

The Foundation’s origins are closely tied to the personal journey that became known as The Horse Boy — documented in two books and a documentary by Rupert Isaacson:

The Horse Boy (book and documentary film) and The Long Ride Home.

These two bestseller books and the doc, which screened worldwide, describe the lived experience with autism, horses and nature that shaped the philosophy behind the Foundation’s work: that learning, regulation, and connection emerge most naturally through movement, environment, and relationship — not coercion.

While the Foundation’s mission extends far beyond this original story, the values described in those books continue to inform its direction.

How We Work Today

The Horse Boy Foundation focuses on funding, supporting, and amplifying programs and practitioners whose work aligns with our mission. This includes:

  • Scholarships for individuals and families who would otherwise lack access to equine services and nature-based learning
  • Support for education, training, and program development
  • Funding for awareness initiatives, conferences, and emerging  academic research

Our goal is to remove financial barriers while maintaining high standards of care, ethics, and effectiveness.

We train therapists, caregivers, teachers, and parents the world over.

Our Place in a Wider Ecosystem

 The Horse Boy Foundation is part of a wider ecosystem of related organizations and initiatives that share a common set of values, while remaining legally and operationally independent.

Professional training, certification, and practitioner education in the Horse Boy Method, Movement Method, Takhin Equine Integration and other related approaches are provided through New Trails Learning Systems (NTLS) at ntls.co.

Operational programs and services are delivered by independent practitioners, centers, and organizations — including those associated with Horse Boy LLC — while the Horse Boy Foundation exists to fund access, development, and advancement of this work in the public interest.

In practical terms, this means the Foundation helps fund:

  • Families and individuals to attend programs and sessions at centers offering these and related methods
  • Practitioners in training where financial barriers would otherwise prevent participation
  • Programs and locations that expand access to humane, movement-based learning

In addition, the Foundation is aligned in mission with New Trails e.V., a German non-profit organization operating at new-trails.org. While New Trails e.V. functions as a separate legal entity and offers German-language resources and programs, both organizations share a commitment to movement-based, non-coercive approaches to learning and wellbeing in the Eurozone.

This separation between charitable funding, professional training, and service delivery allows the Foundation to remain focused on transparency, accountability, and long-term impact.

In 2024 the Irish Government began actively funding Horse Boy and Movement Method, positively impacting thousands of lives. Help us spread this policy change to other countries.

Riding with a child in soft rhythms creates the communication hormone oxytocin.

Looking Forward

As understanding of the brain and nervous system, movement, and learning continues to evolve, the Foundation’s work is expanding to include:

  • Support for conferences and public education and lawmakers on movement and mental health
  • Funding for research and pilot projects
  • Emerging initiatives focused on equine welfare and life-cycle care

While the forms this work takes may change, the guiding principle remains the same: learning should always support wellbeing — never undermine it.

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