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

Chapter 16: Brandon—Cerebral Palsy

113 Chapter Sixteen Brandon—Cerebral Palsy One฀day฀while฀I฀sat฀in฀the฀reception฀room฀to฀get฀a฀respite฀from฀the฀ Texas฀heat฀in฀the฀arena,฀the฀front฀door฀opened.฀A฀beautiful฀lady฀with฀ dark฀curls฀and฀a฀ready฀smile฀entered,฀pushing฀a฀wheelchair฀in฀which฀sat฀ a฀frail฀teenager฀with฀his฀arms฀around฀a฀little฀boy฀perched฀in฀his฀lap.฀ Instructor฀Tracy฀Winkley1 ฀came฀in฀from฀her฀office,฀greeted฀them฀and฀ introduced฀herself.฀ “I’m฀ Melissa฀ Turner,”฀ the฀ lady฀ replied.฀ “This฀ is฀ my฀ son฀ Brandon฀ Barnette฀and฀his฀little฀brother,฀Nathan.” “Hi฀ guys,”฀ Tracy฀ said฀ as฀ Nathan฀ slid฀ to฀ the฀ floor฀ and฀ joined฀ his฀ mother฀on฀the฀couch.฀“Do฀you฀think฀you’d฀like฀to฀ride฀a฀horse,฀Brandon ?” “Umm,฀yes,”฀Brandon฀said฀tentatively,฀his฀eyes฀wide฀as฀he฀glanced฀ around฀at฀his฀mother฀and฀brother. “How฀old฀are฀you?”฀Tracy฀asked.฀ “Fourteen.” “My,฀you’re฀a฀tall฀fellow฀for฀your฀age,”฀she฀said,฀kneeling฀in฀front฀of฀ his฀chair.฀“Can฀you฀stand฀on฀your฀own?”฀ Brandon฀shook฀his฀head.฀ “Not฀without฀a฀lot฀of฀help,”฀Turner฀said.฀ “Okay,฀Brandon,฀let’s฀check฀you฀over฀so฀we฀can฀see฀which฀one฀of฀ our฀horses฀will฀suit฀you฀best,”฀Tracy฀said.฀She฀gently฀tugged฀one฀leg฀to฀ straighten฀it.฀“Tell฀me฀when฀you฀feel฀this.”฀She฀repeated฀the฀process฀with฀ his฀other฀leg.฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀113 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:37฀PM PROFILES 114 “What฀kind฀of฀horses฀do฀you฀have?”฀Brandon฀asked. “Well,฀about฀every฀kind฀there฀is.฀We฀have฀tall฀ones฀and฀short฀ones,฀ some฀are฀fat฀and฀some฀are฀lean.฀I฀bet฀we฀have฀one฀that’s฀just฀right฀for฀ you.” “I฀wanna฀ride฀too,”฀Nathan฀said. “I฀figured฀you฀would,”฀Turner฀said฀with฀a฀grin,฀looking฀back฀and฀ forth฀at฀her฀two฀sons.฀“We’ll฀see฀what฀we฀can฀do฀later,฀Nathan.฀Right฀ now฀we฀need฀to฀get฀Brandon฀started฀because฀it’ll฀make฀him฀feel฀better.฀ We฀want฀to฀do฀that,฀don’t฀we?” “Sure,”฀Nathan฀said.฀“Can฀he฀start฀today?” Instructor฀George฀Winkley฀walked฀in฀and฀met฀the฀new฀arrivals.฀He฀ took฀Brandon’s฀hand฀in฀his.฀“How฀strong฀are฀you?”฀The฀boy฀squeezed฀ his฀hand.฀“Wow,฀you฀are฀strong.฀You฀have฀lots฀of฀upper฀body฀strength฀to฀ help฀hold฀your฀balance฀on฀the฀horse.฀Let’s฀see฀how฀tight฀your฀thigh฀muscles ฀are.”฀He฀kneeled฀and฀eased฀Brandon’s฀legs฀apart.฀“Tell฀me฀when฀it฀ starts฀to฀get฀uncomfortable฀for฀you.” The฀ legs฀ didn’t฀ move฀ very฀ far฀ before฀ Brandon฀ gave฀ a฀ signal฀ but฀ George฀said,฀“Yes,฀we฀have฀a฀horse฀narrow฀enough฀to฀fit฀you.฀Naomi,฀put฀ the฀large฀anti-cast฀on฀Dancer,฀please.”฀ In฀the฀arena,฀Tracy฀selected฀a฀helmet฀from฀a฀closet฀and฀reached฀out฀ to฀place฀it฀on฀Brandon’s฀head.฀ Jerking฀backward,฀he฀said,฀“I฀don’t฀want฀to฀wear฀that.” “I’m฀afraid฀you฀have฀to.฀It’s฀the฀rule.฀You฀can’t฀ride฀without฀a฀helmet .฀Please฀let฀me฀put฀it฀on฀you?” He฀looked฀around฀at฀George,฀who฀nodded. “That’s฀right,฀Brandon.฀But฀it’ll฀feel฀okay.฀Wait฀and฀see.” “Well,฀all฀right,”฀he฀said,฀but฀didn’t฀sound฀convinced. While฀Tracy฀fastened฀the฀helmet,฀I฀led฀Dancer฀behind฀the฀mounting฀ platform฀and฀tightened฀the฀girth฀on฀the฀anti-cast฀over฀a฀three-quarterinch ฀pad. As฀George฀pushed฀the฀wheelchair฀up฀the฀ramp,฀followed฀by฀Turner฀ and฀Nathan,฀Brandon฀said,฀“Is฀that฀a฀saddle?฀Where฀are฀the฀stirrups?” The฀instructor฀explained,฀“Brandon,฀you’ll฀be฀closer฀to฀the฀horse฀sitting ฀on฀the฀pad,฀so฀you฀can฀feel฀more฀of฀his฀warmth,฀and฀his฀movement.฀ It฀will฀stretch฀and฀relax฀your฀muscles฀more฀than฀if฀you฀ride฀in฀a฀saddle. horse2.indd฀฀฀114 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:38฀PM BRANDON 115 “Naomi,฀bring฀Dancer฀in,฀please,”฀he฀said฀over฀his฀shoulder,฀then฀ asked฀Brandon,฀“How฀does฀the฀helmet฀feel?฀It฀makes฀you฀look฀real฀athletic .” The฀boy฀shrugged.฀“Umm,฀it’s฀okay.” When฀ the฀ small฀ palomino฀ gelding฀ stood฀ between฀ the฀ platforms฀ quiet฀ as฀ a฀ statue,฀ with฀ Tracy฀ on฀ the฀ off฀ side,฀ George฀ lifted฀ his฀ client฀ to฀his฀feet฀and฀turned฀him฀in฀position฀to฀sit฀on฀the฀pad.฀Thin฀fingers฀ clutched฀George’s฀arm,฀“tight฀as฀a฀vice,”฀he฀told฀us฀later.฀After฀positioning ฀Brandon฀sideways฀on฀the฀pad,฀and฀gently฀swinging฀the฀rider’s฀right฀ leg฀over฀Dancer’s฀withers,฀he฀said,฀“You฀have฀to฀turn฀loose฀of฀my...