Our StoriesA Dream Come True
By Cindy Prindle
Rising Son Youth Ranch, St Joseph, MO
It’s always a joy to fulfill a child’s dream. Sometimes it doesn’t take much effort, a special toy, or book will sometimes light a child’s eyes up, or with a little more help, a trip to Disney World, or a visit to a sick child from a sports hero. These are all do-able, and attainable dreams. Some children dream what seem like impossible dreams though, and even if we wrack our brains trying to come up with a way to make it happen, it doesn’t seem possible.
When Luca dreamed of riding independently at our riding therapy ranch, it seemed like an impossible dream. Luca is 6 and severely physically handicapped. His parents were thrilled to find a facility near home that would let Luca ride again. He’d enjoyed it so much when he went to camp; it seemed like a dream come true already. And Luca has thrived on the weekly therapy, but he wanted to be able to ride all by himself. Could we make it happen? All Summer we thought about how to fulfill this dream. Luca is such an enthusiastic child; bright eyes that want to see the world, huge smile beaming up at you! He deserves to have his dreams come true! But HOW?
We were blessed with the donation of a sweet, willing, sensitive mare this Spring. Babe is older, and a bit stiff with arthritis, but such a sweet disposition and willing nature, that just about anyone can ride her. She’s a foundation Quarter-horse, so has a nice broad back and steady gait, easy for even a small child to get used to. Could she be the key to fulfilling Luca’s dream? We also needed a way to keep him on Babe with NO fear of his slipping off. The bareback pad we’d been using wasn’t sufficient, especially for his Mom’s peace of mind! A buddy saddle, with foam bumpers in front and back and stirrups did the trick. Now, Luca is secure and stable on Babe’s back. We can even get her into a trot for Luca. This brings squeals of joy and excitement from our little dreamer.
Luca has very little use of his arms and hands, but in his motorized chair, he has a joy stick that makes him independent. He can direct the chair forward, backward, turn on a dime, and even raise and lower it with very little movement of his hand. But a horse needs to be reined. Luca can’t grip the reins. Can we make a joy stick that would do the trick? Babe reins very easily, just a touch of the rein on her neck and she turns willingly. This could be a possibility.
Bert, our maintenance man is pretty handy and creative. The buddy saddle is made of canvas and foam, so not sturdy enough to fasten anything to. What can we use to give the joy stick stability? A, “monkey strap” was donated a couple of years ago, but we’ve never used it. This is a leather strap that fastens around the horse’s middle and has a leather covered metal handle or grip to hang on to when riding bareback. Bert creates a joy stick with a heavy spring and a wooden dowel. He bolts it to the monkey strap and fastens a ring to it to tie the reins to. Now comes the test, will the joy stick work for Luca? Will Babe be sensitive to Luca’s signals and cooperate in this new experiment?
Luca arrives for his therapy session. His Mom tells us that he woke up this morning exclaiming, “I’m going to ride all by myself today!” We set him on Babe, while still in the barn, so Bert can take some measurements and fit the joy stick to Luca. While we wait for Bert to complete the joystick, we walk down to the riding ring and start Luca’s therapy. This time though, we put a bridle on Babe, she’s never needed this before when Luca rode, so Luca is curious about how it works. We show him the bit, and explain how to rein her. Bert arrives with the joystick and we fasten it around Babe in front of Luca’s saddle. He swings his arm up to grip it and pulls it to the right……Miracle of Miracles, Babe turns to the right! Luca practices turning and stopping, then the moment of truth comes. Mom, Dad, and I step away from Babe, Luca gives her the cue to move forward, and he’s off on his own, riding all by himself! Tears are running freely down our faces as we joyfully watch Luca experience his dream come true. There’s no stopping him now! Who knows what the Lord has in store for Luca in the future, but what ever it is, he is up to the challenge!