Agapé Therapeutic Riding Center
Love and a Horse Named Whiskers
"If someone had told me seven years ago that my son would someday ride a horse,
I wouldn't have believed them. For those of you who know my son, Clay, you know
that his physical limitations keep him from even holding his head up on his
own. How is it possible for him to sit like a small prince atop a beautiful
chocolate brown horse? Usually when I tell people that Clay's first grade class
began therapeutic horseback riding at Agapé Therapeutic Riding Center near Cicero,
Indiana a few weeks ago, the first questions is, "Do they have a special seat
for him?" The answer to that is yea, although, I'll have to admit I don't remember
much about the seat that held him.
What I do remember is this: Four strangers helped Clay ride the horse. One woman
led the horse slowly around a circle while three others held him up as they
walked alongside "Whiskers", a slow, gentle, serious horse. One man really made
an impression on me. Walking backwards the entire half-an-hour, he held his
hand under Clay's chin and periodically pushed his helmet back so he could see
better, all the while speaking joyful words to him. On one of the coldest days
of the year, there was a chill in the riding arena. But this man broke into
a sweat and pulled off his sweater while the rest of us shivered in our coats
and gloves. That's how hard he was working to help Clay ride. Or you could say
that's how much he was expressing love to a stranger. 'I don't think this kid
wants to get off!" he exclaimed joyfully across the barn as Clay beamed and
smiled.
