Riding Clinic Shows Handicapped Children They Can Be in Control, on Top of It All

Mary Lahr had never seen Michael ride a horse before.

“He’s very stubborn. He doesn’t like to be told to do anything,” Lahr said of her son, who is afflicted with tuberous sclerosis, a rare hereditary disease that causes seizures, progressive mental disorder and tumors on the kidneys and brain.

Michael, 18, has had brain surgery twice, his mother said.

His stubbornness showed when a volunteer at the therapeutic riding clinic he was attending asked him to groom a horse with a stiff-bristled brush.

Michael growled, a sound he makes when he is angry. He didn’t want to wear the riding helmet.

“He won’t even wear a stocking cap unless it’s 30 below,” said his father, Duane Lahr.

So the Lahrs were amazed when clinic volunteers hoisted their 96-pound son onto the back of a chestnut-colored quarter horse named Luke.

It took Michael a minute or two to realize what was going on, but when he did, his exuberance was easy to see.

Behavior of Happiness

“He’s happy,” his mother said as her son clapped his hands wildly. “He’s excited. He does that when he’s excited.”

Riding as therapy is not a new idea, said Don Holden, the St. Cloud State University professor who started the local program.

When Liz Hartel, crippled by polio as a young girl in Denmark, won a silver medal for dressage at the 1952 Olympic Games, it inspired a Norwegian physical therapist to begin using horseback riding as therapy, Holden said. Now there are similar programs around the world, he said.

“It’s intended to be a family recreational program,” said Mollie Wise, who helps Holden recruit, “but, more than anything, it’s a normalized experience for handicapped children and young adults.”

Holden first thought of opening the clinic two years ago, after he read some literature on therapeutic riding.

“Since I have horses and am interested in horses, something just clicked,” he said. He said he called around to get information on how to begin such a program, and the riding clinic began last summer.

Down’s Syndrome Rider

“This is really a great program,” said Terry Slingluff, father of 10-year-old Ryan Slingluff, a Down’s syndrome boy who rode a horse for the first time this summer.

“He imitates (sounds of horses) all the way home,” Slingluff said. “He loves this.”

Holden provides the horses and three volunteers assist each of the six riders during a session.

The volunteers are trained in riding techniques as well as what to expect from each child.

Richard and Marlys Backes offered to let Holden use their spacious indoor arena in Avon. Kevin Hughes, a St. Cloud attorney, donated incorporation services. Other groups and individuals have become sponsors, and with so much support, the effort has been a success, Holden said.

“Some kids were deathly afraid of horses,” he said.

One of them was Ryan Slingluff, but it didn’t take him long to warm to the idea of riding.

“After 10 minutes he wanted to know if the horse could run,” Holden said. “It’s just great to see people grow and learn. I think it does something for their self-esteem.”

Holden says that that one of the riders’ rewards is the power they feel sitting astride a horse.

“They’re in control instead of being controlled,” he said.