This heartwarming spotlight is about Abigail, our featured client rider at The Shea Center’s 2022 Annual BBQ and Family Faire.
If you have ever seen grown adults walking around The Shea Center in tutus and crowns, they were most likely client Abigail’s volunteer team celebrating her birthday. Abigail, age 13, is The Shea Center’s fashionista. She likes to dress up and wear fancy clothes, especially during the holiday season.
Abigail has a great sense of humor and she loves her volunteers. Don, Jan, Dixie, Bonnie, and Raquel, who are very supportive and encouraging, and bring new jokes to share with her each week.
Diagnosed with a rare brain malformation called schizencephaly that affects her motor skills and speech, Abigail first arrived at Shea at age three and at the time, was unable to sit up straight on a horse. After riding for just a year, Abigail’s self-confidence improved so much she was performing exercises on the horse that she previously wouldn’t have tried on the ground.
Abigail’s physical therapist Jen Hawke, notes, “Abigail currently rides two times per week through our physical therapy utilizing hippotherapy and adaptive riding programs. In physical therapy she works on the postural control, core strength, and upper body mobility needed for her to be a successful student and teenage girl through therapeutic activities and purposeful manipulation of equine movement. In adaptive riding she learns riding skills such as stopping her horse and two-point.”
Due to schizencephaly, the focus of Abigail’s therapy and adaptive riding teams is to maintain her independence and mobility. Her teams celebrate each of her successes, such as more upright posture, holding her reins, and mastering the trot. Due to the nature of Abigail’s diagnosis, she has secondary impairments of scoliosis and instability in her hip joints. Through riding, Abigail realizes improvements in posture and balance, resulting in improved confidence. Abigail has limited control of the muscles involved in speech causing it to be slurred, but her family and teams at Shea understand her.
Abigail’s mother, Allison, says at this point, their goal is to maintain the progress Abigail has made, and thankfully to date, she has not had to have surgery. Abigail’s adaptive riding instructor, Jamie Smartt, remarks, “Abigail is one of the most motivated riders I have worked with at The Shea Center. I have her perform tasks on her horse that will help her build her core strength and balance, which is very important in riding, as well as everyday life.”
Jamie continues, “Abigail meets every challenge and typically goes beyond any expectation I set for her. If I ask her to hold her two-point position at the walk for 10 strides, she will hold it for 20. Abigail not only continuously works on bettering herself but is also very competitive! During games and races, Abigail is always a very good sport and makes sure to cheer on her peers. This passion for riding and overall joy is inspiring to witness every week, not only for me, but her entire volunteer team.”
Allison says, “A favorite part of riding for Abigail, other than playing games, is steering her horse through obstacle courses, which engages her and helps with planning. She likes to bring apples and carrots to feed the horses and also enjoys trail rides, barn walks, and visiting the new horses.”
At The Shea Center, Abigail is free to ride, to play, and be just like everyone else. She has had the opportunity to participate in a fun and social activity that has also helped her grow and maintain her strength and independence.
Allison and Abigail’s grandmother, Carol, both comment on how the staff and volunteers at The Shea Center are so helpful. Allison says. “I would not trust anyone else to put my daughter on a horse. Here, I don’t worry. If something happens, the staff and sidewalkers know exactly what to do. The Shea Center is an amazing place; we are really lucky to be here.”
