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

Chapter 21: Tracy—Multiple Sclerosis

145 Chapter Twenty-One Tracy—Multiple Sclerosis “If฀I฀miss฀my฀ride,฀the฀next฀week฀I฀walk฀into฀the฀arena฀using฀my฀ cane.฀When฀I฀finish฀riding฀and฀dismount,฀I฀walk฀away฀and฀forget฀the฀ cane.฀I฀don’t฀need฀it฀anymore,”฀Tracy฀Roberson฀said,฀reaching฀down฀to฀ pat฀her฀horse’s฀neck.฀“It’s฀completely฀amazing.” After฀agreeing฀to฀tell฀me฀her฀story฀later,฀she฀said฀“Walk฀on,”฀and฀ from฀only฀the฀pressure฀of฀her฀legs฀squeezing฀his฀sides,฀her฀big฀buckskin฀ mount฀began฀walking,฀then฀trotting฀in฀a฀figure฀eight,฀with฀no฀signal฀at฀ all฀from฀the฀reins. Ten฀years฀earlier,฀Tracy฀got฀out฀of฀bed฀one฀morning฀and฀fell฀flat฀on฀ her฀face.฀She฀pulled฀herself฀up,฀sat฀on฀the฀bed฀a฀minute,฀then฀stood.฀ Again,฀she฀fell฀flat฀on฀her฀face.฀ Lying฀on฀the฀floor฀she฀wondered,฀did฀I฀take฀something฀last฀night฀to฀ possibly฀cause฀this—aspirin฀maybe?฀No,฀that฀was฀not฀the฀case. The฀twenty-seven-year-old฀hadn’t฀been฀feeling฀well฀for฀quite฀a฀while฀ before฀this฀happened.฀“I฀was฀tired฀all฀the฀time฀but฀thought฀it฀must฀be฀ just฀the฀lazy฀housewife฀syndrome.”฀She฀recalled฀she฀didn’t฀want฀to฀make฀ the฀beds,฀do฀laundry,฀dishes,฀or฀get฀her฀child’s฀clothes฀ready.฀ Tracy฀rested฀most฀of฀the฀day.฀When฀the฀time฀approached฀to฀pick฀up฀ her฀twelve-year-old฀daughter฀at฀school,฀she฀dressed,฀did฀her฀hair,฀and฀ started฀applying฀makeup.฀“I฀put฀mascara฀on฀my฀left฀eye,฀no฀big฀deal,”฀ she฀said.฀“When฀I฀closed฀my฀right฀eye฀to฀use฀the฀eyelash฀curler,฀there฀ was฀nobody฀in฀the฀mirror.฀I฀was฀terrified.฀I฀thought฀there฀must฀be฀somehorse2 .indd฀฀฀145 3/11/05฀฀฀2:10:15฀PM PROFILES 146 thing฀seriously฀wrong.฀It฀took฀me฀two฀days฀before฀I฀told฀my฀husband—I฀ was฀totally฀blind฀in฀my฀left฀eye.” Neurologists฀confirmed฀her฀worst฀fear.฀It฀was฀serious.฀But฀before฀a฀ diagnosis฀could฀be฀made,฀Tracy฀had฀to฀endure฀almost฀three฀years฀of฀facing ฀the฀unknown,฀which฀continued฀to฀chip฀away฀at฀what฀little฀energy฀ she฀had฀left.฀Tests฀determined฀that฀Optic฀Neuritis฀caused฀the฀blindness฀ in฀her฀left฀eye฀and฀reduced฀vision฀in฀the฀other.฀However,฀five฀MRI’s฀failed฀ to฀reveal฀an฀underlying฀cause฀of฀Tracy’s฀symptoms.฀“Nothing฀showed฀ up฀.฀.฀.฀they฀couldn’t฀find฀anything฀wrong.”฀Tracy฀laughed.฀“I฀didn’t฀ know฀what฀they฀were฀looking฀for,฀though.”฀She฀learned฀later฀that฀Optic฀ Neuritis฀is฀a฀frequent฀side฀effect฀of฀Multiple฀Sclerosis฀(MS).฀“In฀fact,฀ ninety-eight฀percent฀of฀the฀people฀who฀have฀it฀also฀have฀MS.฀They฀were฀ checking฀for฀lesions฀on฀my฀brain฀or฀spinal฀cord.”฀Tracy฀explained฀that฀a฀ lesion฀is฀like฀a฀blister,฀and฀the฀bigger฀the฀blister,฀the฀worse฀the฀MS. “When฀they฀didn’t฀find฀lesions,฀they฀finally฀did฀a฀lumbar฀puncture฀ and฀the฀results฀showed฀positive฀for฀MS,”฀Tracy฀said.฀“Since฀I฀didn’t฀have฀ lesions,฀I฀asked฀if฀I฀had฀the฀‘good’฀kind฀of฀MS.฀He฀replied,฀‘I฀wish฀I฀could฀ say฀yes,฀but฀there฀isn’t฀a฀good฀kind.’” The฀day฀after฀diagnosis฀confirmed฀MS,฀in฀March,฀Tracy฀began฀aquatic ฀therapy.฀In฀the฀summer,฀she฀heard฀about฀hippotherapy.฀“I฀qualified฀ for฀a฀ten-week฀grant.฀I฀loved฀riding฀from฀the฀start.฀I฀could฀tell฀it฀strengthened ฀muscles฀and฀improved฀my฀balance฀right฀away.฀Aquatic฀therapy฀did฀ some฀of฀the฀same฀thing,฀but฀riding฀offered฀so฀much฀more.฀It฀was฀being฀ with฀nature,฀a฀place฀where฀I฀was฀the฀normal฀one,฀and฀an฀inner฀peace฀ that฀comes฀when฀you฀bond฀with฀the฀animal.฀ “I฀had฀ridden฀some฀as฀a฀child.฀They฀started฀me฀with฀a฀leader฀and฀ two฀sidewalkers,”฀Tracy฀recalled.฀After฀ten฀weeks฀of฀hippotherapy,฀her฀ balance฀had฀improved฀so฀much฀she฀no฀longer฀needed฀sidewalkers.฀“I฀ believe฀it฀was฀only฀a฀month฀later฀the฀instructor฀said฀I฀didn’t฀need฀a฀ leader฀either.฀The฀day฀my฀grant฀ended,฀I฀got฀off฀the฀horse฀and฀went฀to฀ the฀owner฀of฀the฀center฀and฀said,฀‘You฀can’t฀make฀me฀leave.฀What฀do฀I฀ have฀to฀do฀to฀stay?฀I’ll฀do฀anything,฀I’ll฀pay฀on฀a฀weekly฀basis.’฀Which฀ I฀did.”฀ A฀few฀weeks฀after฀she฀began฀riding,฀Tracy฀realized฀her฀daughter,฀ Ashly,฀was฀not฀asking฀to฀go฀places฀with฀her.฀“I฀thought฀she฀was฀just฀behorse2 .indd฀฀฀146 3/11/05฀฀฀2:10:15฀PM TRACY 147 ing฀considerate...