Horse Play

Blond, curly haired Tasha Dixon suffers excruciating aches and pains in her reedy body since beating brain cancer as a baby. She is now 13.

For three of his four years on Earth, wide-eyed Luis Dzib, who wears gold chains on each wrist and a small crucifix around his neck, has battled leukemia.

And Keith McKenna, 14, has undergone a bone marrow transplant, repair to his esophagus, chemotherapy and radiation. He hasn’t needed treatment for his cancer for two years, and if he remains clean for three more, he may be out of the woods.

This trio, and a dozen more kids with cancer and other debilitating or deadly diseases, gathered in the woods above Ojai on Saturday to forget about the scary business of being sick and concentrate on having fun.

The youngsters and their family and friends came to Dennison Park to play and ride horses as part of a therapeutic equestrian program launched this weekend by the Landon Pediatric Foundation and the Lions Club.

“It’s so nice for them to have a little time to run around and forget about going to the doctor,” said Lily Rubio, a Santa Paula mother who brought her two daughters, 6 and 2, and her sister, Christina Duran, 17.

Every day, Rubio wakes up and braids her oldest daughter’s long dark hair before driving her to Ventura for hours of physical therapy.

Carmen Rubio, 6, has cerebral palsy and getting through each day is a chore.

Wearing a light pink dress that matched her younger sister’s, Carmen ambled up to a tan pony and gently brushed its coat with her mom’s help. A few minutes later, she went back to the pony and brushed it again.

Her little body wobbled as she walked in thick steel braces that keep her legs straight.

“My favorite animal is a lion,” Carmen said. She favors the big creature after seeing the movie “The Lion King.”

For the last couple of years, Landon and the Lions have hosted Lions’ Camp Dennison, a series of day camps for kids with asthma, cancer, diabetes and those suffering from obesity. County-owned Dennison Park consists of two patches of land on opposing sides of Highway 150. It was overhauled by Dr. Chris Landon, head of the foundation that bears his name, Lions Club members and a lot of volunteers.

Bringing in horses was a new idea this year.

“It helps keep families together. There is a lot of stress in handling some of these things and you need to find ways to balance that out,” Landon said.

Lions Club President Frank Ybarra, a retiree from Los Angeles County who got so hooked on the project he often stays over and works out of a trailer at the park, said a kids’ camp with horses was the natural next step.

“These animals have that little bit of magic,” Ybarra said, before handing out hot dogs and cold sodas. “It diverts their attention, even if for a little bit.”

After the children took turns brushing the pony, they learned how horses are shod and how to fit a bridle.

They also took turns sitting in the driver’s seat of a big rig that transported the horses they would ride later in the day.

Later, members of the Piru 4-H Club gave riding instruction and took turns mounting each child on a horse and leading them around the ring.

One of the first to ride was Christina Duran, who has been fighting both ovarian cancer and leukemia. But she has some experience with horses, she said.

“I’ve been to Camp Ronald McDonald [for cancer patients.] Sometimes for three days, a week, several weeks. We ride horses into the mountains and camp,” she said.

Keith McKenna lives in Camarillo with his parents and two brothers. He said he has a favorite horse at Camp Ronald McDonald, a black and white stallion named Picasso.

Hector Figueroa, 17, of Ventura is battling a disease that has kept his bones from growing. He spent most of his time Saturday taking photographs and hanging out with his brother and sister.

And Tasha Dixon of Ventura went horseback riding. After dismounting, she walked toward her mom, but she was tired.

Despite her chronic pain, she still managed to put on a colorful T-shirt that said she was a survivor.