Disabled find confidence and joy in riding program

TEWKSBURY - Six years ago, Kelly O'Donnell seemed like a normal, exuberant 6-year-old, taking gymnastics and dance classes. Then she started having headaches, losing her balance, and vomiting.

Her parents took her to the hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery for a brain tumor. Prolonged radiation and chemotherapy treatment left the Billerica girl weak and exhausted, with balance problems and unable to use her right arm or leg.

Last weekend, Kelly won two red, or second-place, ribbons at a horse show, part of a therapeutic riding program that her family believes has significantly aided her recovery.

"At first, while she was riding, walkers were hanging on to both her calves to make sure she wouldn't fall off," said her mother, Terry O'Donnell. "As she got stronger and showed more ability to balance, they backed off. I think the riding helped her a lot."

Kelly and her horse were strutting their stuff at the Tewksbury Hospital Equestrian Farm, also known as the T.H.E. FARM, a private, nonprofit organization on the grounds of Tewksbury Hospital.

Therapeutic horseback riding has been shown to offer a variety of benefits to those who are physically or mentally disabled - a recognition that has led to programs around the country. While the Tewksbury organization designs lessons for anyone who is interested, about two-thirds of its more than 125 clients are disabled, said Mary Jane Marcucci, president of the board of directors.

Children and young adults who are its clients have problems that include autism, attention-deficit disorders, histories of domestic violence or substance abuse, and physical deterioration associated with AIDS, Huntington's disease, or multiple sclerosis.

The 22 clients from seven area towns who participated in last week's show were wreathed in smiles as they maneuvered the gentle animals around an outdoor ring in five competitions.

"I like it a lot," Kevin O'Neill of Burlington, a 42-year-old with Down syndrome, said after he scored the blue, or first-place, ribbon in a contest in which he balanced an egg on a spoon while riding his horse around the ring.

According to specialists, riding gently stimulates cardio-respiratory function and promotes postural strength and control, balance, gross and fine motor skills, and the ability to walk. This makes riding a valuable therapy for diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy that produce clumsiness or spasticity of arms and legs, and for one-sided paralysis and other problems with asymmetry.

Susan Saulnier of Lynn said riding has been "almost like physical therapy" for her 9-year-old daughter, Madison, who has a disability that causes low muscle tone in her back and trunk. Madison won three ribbons, one of them blue, and said of the show, "It's fun."

Experts also say that learning how to care for and ride horses has multiple therapeutic possibilities for mental health, including a boost to self-esteem resulting from overcoming anxiety in the presence of a large animal.

Terry O'Donnell said that that is certainly what has happened with Kelly. "I think it gave her a lot of confidence just being able to control that big animal," she said. "She could ask the horse to do something and he would do it."

Riding can help even individuals with very low responsiveness become more animated and interactive, specialists say.

Jaime Sykes, an autistic and profoundly retarded 29-year-old woman, returned several enthusiastic high fives from friends and family after she won a red ribbon in her class.

"She thrives on this - absolutely," said her mother, Veronica Sykes of Reading.

While Jaime Sykes lives in a group home with 24-hour care, has few language skills, and is generally unable to express in words her feelings about horseback riding, her pleasure is evident when she is with the animal, her mother said.

"Jaime's pretty much in her own world, but you can see she's so happy," said Veronica Sykes. "She sits up straight on that horse, where her posture is usually not good."

The participants in last weekend's show were all paying clients. The program, which includes people without medical problems or disabilities, is so popular that there is a waiting list of more than 200, Marcucci said.

It took a year and a half before there was a slot for Kelly's 10-year-old sister, Tracy, for example. Last week, Tracy won a blue ribbon in the costume parade on horseback, for her rendering of feathers and headdress that she described as "a falcon with delusions of peacockness."

Among other clients are participants in the Merrimack Alternative High Schools in Chelmsford, which is designed for adolescents with social, emotional, behavioral, or learning disabilities. T.H.E. FARM offers them services without charge, and benefits from their help around the barn.

T.H.E. FARM also provides therapeutic services free to patients at Tewksbury Hospital, which serves primarily low-income individuals who are chronically ill or who have serious physical or mental disabilities. Women in the Glennis Sheehan Program, a halfway house on the hospital's grounds, are among those who participate.

In spring of last year, the organization began a pilot program with the state Department of Mental Health to provide equine therapies to patients at the hospital with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Some of these individuals have physically hurt themselves or others, and some have been hospitalized by court order.

Last September, the state granted T.H.E. FARM a 99-year lease for the land on which it is situated, soon to be finalized, Marcucci said.

Now organizers are beginning to develop plans for a major campaign to raise the money necessary for construction of an indoor facility, including a riding ring. The indoor ring would allow horseback riding all year and in bad weather, Marcucci said.

For more information, visit t-h-e-farm.org. To join, volunteer, or donate to the program, call 978-851-5540. Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com.