Te, an Erie resident and rider with the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center typically spends his Thursdays each week trotting around with his reddish-brown horse Magic.

Despite being non-ambulatory, non-verbal and immune compromised, his mother, Stephanie Esquibel said that Te has been riding horses at the center since he was 4 years old with the occupational therapy program.

“His early years were really touch and go,” said Esquibel. “We really weren’t sure how long we would have him and so our philosophy of life was let’s give him quality versus quantity. We were instructed to leave him at home and not expose him to people. In my mind that was a different kind of prison.”

Esquibel said that Te was initially diagnosed with lissencephaly but that his current diagnosis includes microcephaly, cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease amongst numerous other medical conditions.

“The doctors told us that he was only expected to make it maybe 18 months; he’s now going to be 17,” said Esquibel. “He was actually misdiagnosed the first year … with lissencephaly, people who have it are vegetative and their organs and brain eventually shut down.”

Esquibel said that she was introduced to the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center after her daughter attended a summer camp there.

“She’s always been pretty assertive in being the protective older sister,” Esquibel said. “She’s always been fascinated with large livestock, cattle and horses, and that’s where we met the people at CTRC.”

Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center, 11968 Mineral Road in Longmont, has been serving residents along the Front Range for almost 45 years, according to Michele Bruhn, executive director for the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center.

“There has been a need in the community to support people with disabilities through alternative treatments,” said Bruhn. “Horses provide a wonderful outlet for that because there are so many people that we’re helping by riding and sitting on the horses.”

Bruhn said that the center accommodates a wide variety of disabilities.

“We have a mechanical lift that helps our riders who have ambulatory needs, then be able to mount the horses from the wheelchair directly onto the horse.”

Bruhn said that the main reason riding horses improves mobility is because they move bilaterally.

“What that means is just by sitting on the back of a horse, a person will naturally increase muscle tone with all the muscles that a human uses to walk,” said. “So we are talking core strength, balance, and organ function … a horse moves with their front left, back right, front right, back left, so that kind of four beat rhythmic walk supports human physiological development.”

Esquibel said that since she was introduced to hippotherapy at the center, doctors have been impressed with Te’s physical state so much so that the recovery time for his hip surgery was reduced.

“(Hippotherapy) is the movement of all four directions so you really get a 360 kind of movement throughout the workout with the therapist, and so the stretching of the hips just getting on the horse is one of the benefits since he’s had hip surgery,” said Esquibel. “It’s kept him limber and requires him to engage his abdominal and back muscles. For somebody with cerebral palsy, it keeps his muscles moving and engaged.”

Esquibel also said that doctors told her they were surprised Te’s muscles haven’t atrophied.

“Somebody his age usually atrophies and in one position where they have to actually tear and rip the muscles to get them straight,” said Esquibel. “(The doctors) didn’t have to do that with him, so they had time to go golfing.”

Bruhn said that not only has horseback riding improved Te’s overall movement but also his well-being and self-esteem.

“Then the next layer, you’re looking at self esteem,” said Bruhn. “You’re looking at someone on the back of a horse, especially someone in a wheelchair who’s used to always staring up at people. Now that they’re on the back of the horse, they’re the tallest ones in the room and they’re not staring up into people’s nostrils anymore.”

Esquibel stated that the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center has been a safe haven for her family.

“I get to watch the two of them, I get to cheer them on and the two of them get to interact and participate in sidewalking and horse riding,” said Esquibel. “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful place to be and I get to watch my son do something he enjoys. I get to watch my daughter with her brother, I get to see how she looks up at him and adores him and vice versa. It’s just a very magical moment.”