Hillary has been kept alive with the support of 5
life-support machines, and she requires 24 hour per day medical care. She can experience touch and sight, but she
cannot smell, taste, nor hear. Although
she knows some sign language, she has a major language disorder. Yet, despite the challenges, Hillary’s mom
points out that “she is bright, strong-willed, and has been raised as a well
child: She lives at home, she goes to
public school, and she has friends.”
Always looking for ways to encourage her daughter to respond
to her environment, Debra Webster had read that therapeutic riding often proved
beneficial. She felt that what it
offered—a sense of locomotion, control, and bonding—were worthwhile pursuits. When Hillary turned 5, she was enrolled in a
weekly therapeutic program.
Debra cautions: “It’s
difficult to specifically gauge the effect that the horses had upon Hillary
because she cannot express her thoughts as others do, and speak for
herself. However, there is every reason
to believe that her riding experience helped enormously.”
It was her mother’s goal to provide Hillary with the
opportunities which could be gained from riding. The animals were available to demonstrate the
sensation of locomotion, and Debra reports, “The horses’ movements beneath
Hillary were as though they were her own.” Hillary
began to walk.
Hillary had been involved in physical therapy since her
birth, as well as the more recent therapeutic riding; it is impossible to say
which form of therapy contributed which ingredient, or which was the more
influential. Yet, after 2 years of
riding, Hillary was able to walk independently—she had finally understood the
process.
Riding definitely helped Hillary to gain a sense of control
and self-esteem. Sometimes Hillary would
start to cry when she was first put on the horse, but when her mom or dad asked
if she wished to stop riding, she refused.
She insisted on continuing her lessons.
Riding gave her the feeling that she was someone special; she could
finally do something which none of her friends knew how.
Hillary took lessons for 6 years, and her mother states that
Hillary looked forward to the relationship she shared with the animals. She treasured the grooming, the saddling and
unsaddling, the feeding time. It was
soothing to both Hillary, and her mount.
She enjoyed watching the animals for hours—especially their lips and
whiskers (how they moved when they ate).
Perhaps it was because Hillary’s facial muscles were paralyzed; perhaps
it was because Hillary could not eat by mouth.
Whatever the reason, she was fascinated.
Possibly the most important aspect gained by Hillary from
therapeutic riding was that she made friends with the horses. She allowed them into her withdrawn and
silent world, and they helped her to understand how to reach out and relate to
others.
Hillary made significant strides in her 6 years with the
therapy. She experienced the Special
Olympics and multiple horse-shows. She
was able to win ribbons—something that field-days in public school could not
accommodate for children with multiple disabilities.
As the years have gone by and Hillary has matured, her
experiences have broadened and her interests have narrowed more to those things
where she can do her best. Riding has
become less of a priority, replaced with art, computers, and picture books.
“Even though her interests have changed, there is every
reason to believe that therapeutic horseback riding was a significant influence
in her life,” said Hillary Webster’s mother.
“The animals encouraged my daughter to accept the challenges of
movement, of increased self-confidence and self-esteem, and of increased
empathy with other living beings.”
