Horses with Heart

The girl with the pink leggings and brown cowboy boots pats the tri-colored pony on the neck, sits up straight in the saddle, and with reins confidently in hand, commands “Walk on.” As Majesty responds with a gentle stride, Lizzie smiles.

And for Dani Mackin of Prescott, this is what a miracle looks like. Dani is Lizzie’s mom. She describes her 9-year-old’s serious social anxiety as paralyzing. “She wouldn’t talk to people. She would do what we call ‘a possum,’ and just freeze, or run away crying when someone came near her. She wouldn’t talk to her grandfather. She never even petted our dog really. We had trouble finding babysitters.”

That was life when Lizzie was 6. And then, magic happened. Lizzie’s parents nervously put her on the back of a horse at a Happy Hearts rodeo sponsored by Horses with Heart. “We thought she’d freak out,” said Dani.

But, she didn’t. In fact, she loved it. The girl who rarely smiled, started smiling. “The next week she actually started to talk to my dad all of a sudden. It was unbelievable. We didn’t know what just happened but we knew we had to keep it going.”

Jan Grise believes in miracles. The program director and riding instructor says she sees them every day in the Horses with Heart arena in Chino Valley. “Horses connect with people. This is not therapy. But what we do is therapeutic. Individuals come out here and make wonderful strides emotionally, physically, cognitively.”

This summer marks the 29th anniversary for the organization that works with more than 150 riders each season (other than in 2020 during the pandemic), from May to October, ranging in age from 4 to 87. Grise, a lifetime equestrian, has been involved with Horses with Heart for 14 years.

“We serve people with special needs,” she said. “Our tagline is, ‘Horses with Heart is where difficulties become possibilities.’”

In the arena, five certified instructors plus volunteer support teams work with individuals with conditions such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, autism and Down Syndrome, as well as people with learning disabilities, veterans with PTSD and those recovering from a stroke.

Grise explains that the gait of a horse mimics a human’s walking pattern and can help riders regain the use of an arm or leg. “We have a rider with cerebral palsy who doesn’t walk well. She’ll  get on that horse and make it walk. When she does this, she’s reprogramming her muscles and her brain.”

Riders also connect with the horses by getting in sync with their breathing patterns, she explained. “They are such big animals, but they are gentle giants. Most of the riders will want to pet them or spend some time grooming them, touching them and looking at them eye to eye and breathing with them.”

Grise says the program serves several foster children who have had disruptive lives, trauma and a lot of emotional upheaval. She describes an 11-year-old rider who had so much trauma in her life she stopped speaking. “We started her in lessons. About two weeks in, she started whispering to her horse – we teach riders to talk their horses with ‘Walk on,’ ‘Whoa’ and ‘Trot.’ It was very much a whisper. By the end of the first six weeks, she started talking to her coach, talking to her horse and by the end of her second six-week session, she was talking to everybody.”

There’s also the story of a boy who started with the program at age 11. In his early 20s, he cantered his way onto the world stage in the 2015 Special Olympics and walked off a champion. “Out of 10 spots from the U.S., Jeremiah got one and went to Los Angeles for the World Games. He won gold and bronze medals. He is married now and doing marvelously well. When he started with us, he was pretty uncommunicative, very shy and withdrawn. Now, he is a very, very neat young man.”

Some of the horses are leased from locals, other are donated from people who have retired from the horse world. One is a miniature horse, who serves as a Horses with Heart ambassador for visits to schools and nursing homes.

“The horses are marvelous healing things that help our participants overcome their difficulties,” said Grise. “You come out here and see a participant one week and the next week, what a change! Some riders are born with severe developmental difficulties. Through the program, you can see them function at such a higher level. It’s just amazing. I’m in love with what I do.”

The non-profit organization charges $50 per session and operates on donations. The Horses with Heart program at Chino Valley is the only accredited one of its kind in Northern Arizona. For more information, visit horseswithheartaz.org. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN