Therapy at the OK Corral

Thanks to a horse named Baby, a writer who has lived for 20 years with multiple sclerosis has new mobility and new hope

"Hippotherapy" - horseback riding as physical therapy - at first terrified writer Sherman, 49, of Northport, N.Y. Now she's comfortable pulling the reins of "Baby," this 22-year-old Arabian mix.

hen I first heard of hippotherapy - using a horse (hippo in Greek) as physical therapist for people with all kinds of disabilities - I thought: How absurd. Mounting a horse would be problematic from my wheelchair, but once on him, what could a horse do for me?

Quite a bit, it turns out. My balance is much better after just eight weeks. I can stand alone a short time while dressing or cooking, without leaning against something solid.

My instructor says riding stimulates my muscles, some of which I never knew I had. Riding bareback is the standard approach. It lets me feel the horse's muscles as he walks, stimulating my body to respond with a rhythmic shift from side to side. And, as with any other exercise, my muscles get stronger every week.

Getting on the horse, "Baby," the first time was easier than I had thought. My instructor wheeled me up a ramp to a platform, fitted me with a helmet and helped me out of the chair. "Lean your butt against the horse," she directed, then deftly lifted my right leg; an attendant on the other side pulled my leg over Baby's broad back.

At first I gripped, with all my might, the surcingle, an adaptive piece of equipment with a ring on a belt around Baby's shoulders. I was terrified! But I quickly realized I wasn't going to fall. There was an attendant on each side resting a hand on my knee, one person leading the horse and a fourth person instructing us all.

herapeutic riding is nothing new. The ancient Greeks put injured warriors on horseback to improve their health and well-being. England did the same for its injured World War I soldiers, and a Danish rider, paralyzed by polio, won a silver dressage medal in the 1952 Olympics.

Yet the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association wasn't formed until 1969. Now there are more than 500 accredited U.S. riding centers. They work with adults and kids with cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, polio, mental retardation and other disabilities.

y first sessions focus on relaxing and feeling comfortable on Baby's back. I twist and turn, stretching from side to side, reach up high and down to my toes, now forward, now back toward his tail, all to improve my balance and coordination.

"Breathe!" my instructor keeps reminding me. It's easy to forget the basics when you're concentrating so hard on other things. We go through range-of-motion exercises, too, with deep, rhythmic breathing.

Relaxed, I ride around the ring, swaying my hips right to left, right to left in sync with Baby's gait. As the weeks progress, I also learn to relax my grip on the surcingle, extending first one arm, then both arms, to the side while Baby walks.

My balance is so good now that I'm holding the reins. I don't need to grip the surcingle anymore, and I've got only one instructor and someone leading the horse.

I can get Baby to start walking with a little pressure from my lower legs and to stop with a "Ho" and a tug of the reins. What a great sense of empowerment!

I may not walk so well, but I can control this 1,300-pound animal!

And instead of being wheeled up the ramp, now I walk - with a little support from the railing and a lot more hope.

Photo Credit: ERICA FREUDENSTEIN for USA WEEKEND