Special Needs, Special Horses: A Guide to the Benefits of Therapeutic Riding

Chapter 24: Lynn—Paralysis, Skiing Accident

159 Chapter Twenty-Four Lynn—Paralysis, Skiing Accident From฀cantering฀through฀Texas฀countryside฀teeming฀with฀thousands฀ of฀Monarch฀butterflies,฀to฀cantering฀around฀an฀arena฀to฀thunderous฀applause ฀from฀fans฀cheering฀riders฀from฀around฀the฀world—this฀is฀the฀trail฀ taken฀ by฀ World฀ Class฀ Rider฀ Lynn฀ Seidemann.฀ Representing฀ the฀ United ฀States฀in฀the฀2000฀Paralympic฀Games,฀Sidney,฀Australia,฀winning฀a฀ Gold฀and฀a฀Silver฀Medal฀in฀the฀2003฀World฀Dressage฀Championships฀for฀ the฀Disabled฀in฀Belgium,฀and฀a฀Silver฀in฀the฀2004฀Paralympic฀Games฀in฀ Greece,฀are฀only฀a฀few฀of฀Lynn’s฀accomplishments. Always฀an฀athlete,฀Lynn฀played฀soccer฀on฀the฀University฀of฀Cincinnati ฀team฀for฀two฀years,฀and฀excelled฀in฀tennis฀and฀basketball.฀She฀also฀ snow฀skied. Just฀ after฀ turning฀ twenty-one,฀ racing฀ down฀ the฀ gleaming฀ white฀ slopes฀in฀Colorado,฀Lynn฀fell฀and฀hit฀a฀tree.฀The฀impact฀broke฀her฀back฀ at฀T-eleven฀vertebrae.฀She฀could฀not฀walk,฀but฀Lynn฀didn’t฀let฀it฀stop฀her.฀ “I฀wanted฀to฀stay฀active฀and฀it฀was฀a฀natural฀thing฀to฀keep฀playing฀sports,฀ at฀least฀do฀as฀close฀as฀possible฀to฀what฀I฀did฀before,”฀she฀said.฀“I฀started ฀playing฀basketball฀and฀tennis.”฀Nine฀years฀after฀the฀accident,฀Lynn฀ qualified฀in฀tennis฀for฀the฀1992฀Paralympic฀Games,฀Barcelona,฀Spain,฀ and฀won฀a฀Silver฀Medal฀in฀doubles.฀Shortly฀thereafter฀she฀learned฀about฀ therapeutic฀horseback฀riding. “My฀mother-in-law฀and฀father-in-law฀lived฀in฀the฀country฀and฀on฀ the฀way฀out฀there฀I฀passed฀Riding฀Unlimited,”฀Lynn฀recalled.฀The฀facility฀ is฀a฀premier฀accredited฀NARHA฀center฀located฀in฀Ponder,฀Texas. horse2.indd฀฀฀159 3/11/05฀฀฀2:10:28฀PM PROFILES 160 “I฀was฀curious฀about฀it฀and฀stopped฀to฀inquire.฀They฀said฀riding฀a฀ horse฀stretches฀your฀muscles฀and฀helps฀build฀balance.฀It฀sounded฀kind฀ of฀interesting,฀but฀I฀also฀thought฀they฀were฀crazy—putting฀someone฀who฀ couldn’t฀use฀their฀legs,฀on฀a฀horse.฀How฀could฀that฀ever฀work,฀I฀wondered .฀Partially฀out฀of฀curiosity฀to฀see฀if฀it฀could฀actually฀do฀what฀they฀ were฀saying,฀I฀began฀riding.฀“The฀first฀time฀I฀got฀on฀a฀horse,฀even฀with฀ two฀sidewalkers฀and฀a฀leader,฀I฀was฀so฀scared.฀I฀kept฀telling฀myself,฀‘I฀ can฀do฀this,฀I’m฀an฀athlete,฀I฀can฀do฀this.’” Being฀the฀athlete฀she฀is,฀Lynn฀soon฀conquered฀her฀fear.฀Under฀the฀ expert฀guidance฀of฀the฀Riding฀Unlimited฀instructors,฀she฀quickly฀progressed ฀to฀competing฀at฀a฀local฀level฀and฀moved฀on฀to฀the฀global฀level.฀ Lynn฀now฀has฀a฀horse฀of฀her฀own,฀Ryan.฀She฀rides฀two฀or฀three฀times฀ a฀week,฀honing฀her฀dressage฀skills฀for฀competing฀as฀a฀member฀of฀the฀ United฀States฀Equestrian฀Team.฀I฀asked฀for฀and฀received฀an฀invitation฀to฀ come฀out฀and฀watch฀a฀practice฀session. While฀we฀talked,฀she฀haltered฀Ryan,฀led฀him฀out฀of฀his฀stall,฀and฀ groomed฀him,฀including฀cleaning฀his฀feet,฀deftly฀scooting฀her฀wheelchair ฀from฀one฀side฀of฀Ryan฀to฀the฀other,฀and฀ducking฀under฀his฀neck.฀ The฀lightweight฀titanium฀chair฀has฀a฀low฀back฀and฀no฀armrests,฀allowing ฀its฀user฀the฀mobility฀Lynn฀needs฀for฀her฀sports฀activities.฀She฀required ฀some฀help฀in฀hoisting฀the฀English฀saddle฀onto฀the฀horse’s฀back,฀ but฀did฀most฀of฀the฀fastening฀and฀tightening฀of฀straps,฀and฀bridling,฀ by฀herself.1 ฀ Outside฀in฀the฀crisp฀sunny฀morning,฀Lynn฀mounted฀with฀the฀help฀ of฀two฀people฀boosting฀her฀onto฀the฀horse.฀Ryan฀is฀boarded฀at฀a฀private฀ stable฀which฀does฀not฀have฀a฀mounting฀ramp฀commonly฀used฀at฀NARHA฀ centers.฀They฀fastened฀her฀feet฀in฀the฀stirrups฀with฀wide฀rubber฀bands2 ฀ while฀she฀placed฀Velcro฀straps฀across฀her฀thighs฀to฀secure฀them฀to฀the฀ saddle.3 Entering฀the฀open฀air฀arena,฀Lynn฀rode฀a฀few฀warm-up฀laps,฀then฀got฀ down฀to฀serious฀training.฀Her฀coach,฀a฀tough฀taskmaster฀who฀watched฀ every฀move฀she฀made฀throughout฀the฀lesson,฀voiced฀instruction฀to฀correct ฀and฀perfect฀every฀minute฀detail฀of฀her฀performance.฀Pleasure฀and฀ exercise฀are฀definite฀benefits฀of฀her฀riding฀too,฀but฀to฀be฀successful฀at฀her฀ level฀of฀competition฀requires฀grueling฀work฀and฀discipline. horse2.indd฀฀฀160 3/11/05฀฀฀2:10:29฀PM LYNN 161 She฀expertly฀handled฀Ryan,฀looking฀relaxed,฀her฀form฀splendid.฀Rider ฀and฀horse฀moved฀as฀one฀through฀trots,฀canters,฀and฀turns—stopping฀ and฀starting฀in฀swirling฀dust,฀somehow฀reminding฀me฀of฀a฀ballet.฀Her฀ proficiency฀was฀particularly฀remarkable฀since฀she฀cannot฀give฀her฀horse฀ leg...