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

Chapter 15: Leah—Intrauterine Stroke

107 Chapter Fifteen Leah—Intrauterine Stroke “Chesto!฀Wheo฀Chesto?”฀The฀soft฀voice฀came฀from฀the฀direction฀of฀ the฀arena฀entryway.฀I฀looked฀up฀to฀see฀a฀little฀girl฀with฀huge฀blue฀eyes฀ and฀a฀sunny฀smile฀leaning฀on฀a฀tiny฀walker.฀“I฀wanna฀wide฀Chesto!”฀she฀ said฀with฀a฀little฀more฀volume. I฀finished฀saddling฀a฀big฀bay,฀breathing฀the฀earthy฀scents฀of฀horse฀ and฀oiled฀leather,฀and฀stepped฀from฀the฀stall.฀I฀walked฀toward฀the฀client,฀ passing฀a฀row฀of฀open฀pipe฀enclosures฀along฀the฀outside฀perimeter฀of฀ the฀huge฀arena,฀in฀which฀horses฀stood฀picking฀at฀the฀remnants฀of฀their฀ hay฀ration.฀Others฀were฀saddled฀and฀ready฀for฀their฀riders,฀or฀standing฀ patiently฀while฀volunteers฀brushed฀them฀and฀cleaned฀their฀feet฀with฀a฀ hoofpick. Greeting฀Leah฀Epich฀and฀her฀mother,฀Susan฀Epich,฀I฀checked฀the฀helmet ฀list฀to฀see฀which฀one฀she฀needed,฀and฀retrieved฀it฀from฀the฀cabinet. Jessica฀ Whaylen,฀ former฀ Rocky฀ Top฀ Therapy฀ Center฀ instructor,฀ walked฀into฀the฀arena฀and฀I฀handed฀the฀helmet฀to฀her.฀Fastening฀it฀over฀ Leah’s฀ bouncy฀ red฀ curls,฀ she฀ said,฀ “Chester’s฀ all฀ saddled.฀ He’s฀ been฀ sticking฀his฀head฀out฀of฀the฀stall฀looking฀for฀you.”฀The฀girl฀giggled฀at฀ this฀disclosure.฀ “Will฀you฀lead฀Chester฀please?”฀Jessica฀asked฀a฀volunteer,฀who฀then฀ opened฀the฀gray฀gelding’s฀stall฀door,฀slipped฀a฀halter฀on฀him,฀attached฀a฀ rope,฀and฀led฀him฀out. Holding฀Leah’s฀hands,฀Jessica฀walked฀her฀up฀the฀ramp฀leading฀to฀ the฀mounting฀platform.฀“Bring฀Chester฀in,฀please,”฀she฀said. horse2.indd฀฀฀107 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:32฀PM PROFILES 108 Walking฀backward,฀the฀volunteer฀led฀the฀horse,฀which฀I฀can฀only฀ describe฀ as฀ a฀ dignified฀ old฀ gentleman,฀ into฀ the฀ narrow฀ area฀ between฀ the฀two฀platforms.฀He฀walked฀calmly฀and฀relaxed,฀perfectly฀obeying฀all฀ commands.฀Jessica฀settled฀Leah฀gently฀into฀a฀small฀western฀saddle.฀A฀ volunteer฀stood฀on฀the฀other฀side฀to฀make฀sure฀Leah฀wouldn’t฀sway฀to฀ her฀right,฀and฀she฀and฀Jessica฀each฀guided฀one฀of฀the฀girl’s฀legs,฀encased฀ in฀white฀plastic฀braces,฀down฀along฀Chester’s฀sides. Leah฀leaned฀over฀and฀grabbed฀a฀handful฀of฀silky฀gray฀mane฀and฀laid฀ her฀cheek฀against฀her฀mount’s฀neck.฀“I฀love฀you,฀Chesto.” “You฀ready,฀Leah?”฀Jessica฀asked. “Yes,฀yes.฀Can฀we฀go฀outside?” “You฀got฀it,฀hon.฀Hold฀onto฀the฀saddle฀horn฀and฀tell฀your฀horse฀to฀go.” “Walk฀on,”฀Leah฀commanded.฀Even฀though฀she฀tightly฀gripped฀the฀ horn฀ with฀ her฀ left฀ hand,฀ Jessica฀ and฀ the฀ volunteer฀ each฀ kept฀ a฀ light฀ touch฀on฀her฀shoulders฀as฀Chester฀moved฀forward,฀following฀his฀leader,฀ out฀of฀the฀mounting฀area. “Have฀a฀halt,”฀Jessica฀said฀when฀the฀horse฀emerged฀into฀the฀arena.฀ “Whoa,”฀ Leah฀ yelled.฀ Chester฀ stopped,฀ with฀ a฀ subtle฀ prompt฀ by฀ the฀ leader,฀allowing฀the฀rider฀to฀believe฀it฀was฀entirely฀her฀command฀that฀ her฀mount฀followed. Jessica฀grinned฀at฀Leah.฀“Let’s฀check฀the฀length฀of฀your฀stirrups,฀ sweetie.฀We฀want฀them฀to฀be฀the฀right฀length,฀don’t฀we?”฀She฀adjusted฀ the฀leather฀straps฀and฀carefully฀positioned฀each฀little฀foot฀into฀its฀stirrup,฀ glancing฀over฀her฀shoulder฀to฀ask฀me฀to฀sidewalk. The฀other฀volunteer฀and฀I฀each฀rested฀a฀hand฀on฀the฀saddle.฀Although ฀Leah฀sat฀the฀horse฀well,฀we฀were฀ready฀to฀give฀her฀support฀if฀she฀ tired,฀or฀push฀her฀little฀bottom฀back฀toward฀center฀if฀she฀started฀sliding฀ sideways. “Okay,฀Leah,฀tell฀Chester฀to฀go฀and฀you฀lead฀the฀way฀outside.” “Walk฀on,”฀Leah฀said,฀and฀the฀horse,฀with฀four฀people฀attached,฀ walked฀through฀the฀gate,฀into฀a฀sunny฀spring฀day.฀Five฀other฀children,฀ already฀mounted฀and฀circling฀the฀arena฀with฀volunteers฀in฀place,฀followed ฀single฀file. The฀horses฀entered฀a฀lane,฀shaded฀by฀trees฀rustling฀in฀a฀light฀breeze.฀ Jessica฀walked฀alongside,฀observing฀to฀make฀sure฀each฀child฀maintained฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀108 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:32฀PM LEAH 109 the฀proper฀position฀to฀gain฀the฀most฀benefit฀possible฀from฀the฀ride.฀She฀ led฀them฀through฀a฀series฀of฀exercises,฀such฀as฀standing฀in฀the฀stirrups,฀ holding฀their฀arms฀out฀“like฀an฀airplane,”฀twisting฀their฀upper฀bodies฀ “like฀a฀helicopter.”฀She฀had฀them฀place฀first฀one฀hand฀at฀a฀time,฀then฀ both,฀on฀their฀horse’s฀neck,฀on฀his฀rump,฀then฀on฀top฀of฀their฀helmet.฀ Leah฀put฀her฀left฀hand฀on฀her฀helmet.฀When฀she฀couldn’t฀reach฀that฀high฀ with฀her฀right฀due฀to฀its฀limited฀use,฀she...