Stephanie LOVEs riding. She's quite a young lady. She is very VERY bright and has athetoid cerebral palsy, which is the "floppy" type. She does a petty nice job (lots of on-going physical and occupational therapy) with making that mind-of-its-own body do what she wants it to do.
The most wonderful disabled kid / horse thing I ever saw was with a boy we cared for quite a few years ago. He had spasric cerebral palsy (the kind with tight contracted muscle groups). He had a lot of pain and he was very unhappy much of the time. We put him up on a pony and he slumped there with his crooked painful little body as we walked around the ring. Suddenly, he got a huge grin on his face and sat straight up on the horse and rode that way for the rest of his ride. It was a very touching thing to be a part of. Nancy
