JACOB'S FUND :: Round 2 for Kyle

Amy, Kyle's therapist, helping him get ready to ride.

Sometimes we are lucky enough to see the world tilt a little toward the good. This past Thursday night was one of those times. 

There was Kyle, riding his horse, Dallas, during a hippotherapy session at Hilltop Equestrian Center in western Ohio. Alongside him were his therapist and horse handler. Concentrating intensely, Kyle had just completed a matching and sequencing exercise with colored rings and flags.  

During the sequencing exercise atop his horse, Dallas

He urged the horse forward, using the muscles he is developing through therapy, and Dallas began to trot gently. Suddenly all eyes and ears were on Kyle whose laughter filled the entire indoor arena with the sound.  

“This is music to my ears,” said Kelli, Kyle’s mom. We couldn’t agree more!

Kyle completed his first six-week session of hippotherapy over this past summer thanks to your financial support. Amy, his therapist, reports that his core strength increased, his balance improved, and toward the end of the six weeks, she saw (and heard) him vocalizing much more. At this first night of his second session, he picked right up where he left off, building on the strength and skill he’d gained during the last session.

Therapy includes many trips around the arena

The Red Thread team loves hippotherapy because we see measurable results. But what we love more than anything is the changes that we see happening to families when:

• Their child is at last able to communicate their needs or express the pleasure he or she feels when playing with their brothers and sisters.  
• A little one—who could not stand independently—walks into the living room unaided. 
• Their child—who could not talk—whispers “Good night, Mommy” for the first time.  
• A child gets out of the car at the carpool drop off, is greeted by another child and they walk away hand-in-hand.

These are the small miracles that we witness, made possible by your gifts to Jacob’s Fund.

We’re thrilled, as we know you are, that Kyle is growing in strength and capability. We eagerly look forward to seeing him reach new goals and sharing those accomplishments with you.

But we’re ecstatic that, on Thursday evening as the sun began to set over the rolling hills and farmland surrounding Hilltop, Kyle, not waiting for his parents to hold his hand, hurried into the barn to find his horse and begin riding.

Kelli holding Kyle up to peek in at a horse