Horses make magic for special needs children

Patty Miller

EDMOND — Horses are magical, or maybe they just work magic.

For those special ones with special needs, Lucille Fancey and her geldings perform magic as children are placed on the backs of these gentle giants.

A hesitant glance becomes a smile from ear to ear as a child first meets his new friend. For others, those time-worn riders clap with glee as they see a familiar face, that of “their” horse.

Fancey owns Coffee Creek Therapeutic Horsemanship Riding Center and with her daughter, Joy Milligan, serves children ages 3-12, along with some teens and adults. The center has provided free therapeutic riding to children and adults with a wide range of disabilities for the past 33 years in both its indoor and outdoor arenas.

The riding center started with 50 students its first year. Last year, 180 students were helped in the spring and fall semesters, and more than 100 are enrolled this summer, Milligan said.

Milligan said the riding center was always her mother’s dream and then it became hers.

“Somehow, God impressed me from the beginning that he wanted the program to be free,” Milligan said, “and he wanted me to trust him to provide the finances. I soon learned that faith is not a feeling, but a choice to trust God and not the circumstances that faced me. Through the years we have had so many fun miracles of provision and timely gifts of funds exactly when the need was the greatest.”

The center is a dream come true for Fancey, 89. Mrs. F, as she is called by the children, can be seen with her gray hair pulled back in a neat bun with a colorful scarf tied around her head on most days.

Fancey is still working her farm while she continues teaching English-style riding and jumping as she has for the past 35 years. She retired her pack of foxhounds at the Lost Hound Hunt in 2003.

“Horses are like people,” Fancey said. “If people are active they can go for a long time.”

Some children come from the metro area in public school buses while others are brought by family members. Some have come from as far away as Kingfisher, El Reno, Norman, Choctaw and Yukon.

“Assessments are done to determine our ability to serve each student and the class they will best work with and our availability of volunteers to assist in the class,” Milligan said.

Riding a horse means freedom

While at the riding center the children develop special relationships with the horse they ride and in doing so the children work harder and longer at therapy, Milligan said.

Riding therapy affects mental, physical, social and emotional areas, and the special games and exercises are designed to help strengthen muscles and increase balance, strength and coordination as well as self image.

Children learn colors, shapes, names of animals, numbers and other skills through the interactive sessions with the volunteers.

For children who have never walked on their own, the motion of the horse captures the movement of walking. In addition, the child learns balance at each step, which also is necessary for walking.

William Hefner, 4, was non-verbal when first brought to the riding center.

“William didn’t speak and couldn’t stand up straight,” said his mother, Ellyn Hefner. “The first time we put him on a horse he sat up straight. The horses have always helped to calm him down.” William now sits tall in the saddle and verbalizes while riding Cloud and playing the learning games with the volunteers.

Four-year-old Alexis Pradella, of Mustang, was riding JoJo on Tuesday. She wasn’t walking when her mother Kirstin Pradella brought her to the riding center a year ago.

“Riding the horses has helped her with her balance,” Kirstin Pradella said. “She just loves the horses and talks about them. I have never known any place like this. I think it is so awesome.” Alexis took her first step Jan. 13.

Milligan said a child with a disability is a long-term situation for most families and the costs can be extremely high.

“Our program is a gift from Jesus to each family, to help them in their quest to find the highest level of ability, mobility, freedom and joy possible for their child and family,” Milligan said.



Volunteer opportunities abound

In addition to Fancey and Milligan, Coffee Creek is staffed by three instructors and 150 volunteers.

Sessions follow the same schedule as a school term. Summer classes are in the morning hours to combat the heat; during the school term classes begin at 11:30 a.m. and run throughout the day.

Adults and home-schooled children mainly help during the school term, while in the summer, public school and university students show up.

Volunteer Courtney Mills, a junior at Oklahoma State University, started working at the riding center five summers ago. “The kids keep me coming back,” Mills said.

Young teen volunteers will start in a development program where they are assisted by experienced aides.

The center is funded by unsolicited gifts and donations and by equipment grants. Coffee Creek also is a United Way Partner Agency, which receives designated contributions from individuals.



The Coffee Creek Riding Center is planning a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 14th Street and Fretz. They still need donated items to include in the sale. To donate call 570-2246 and ask for Joy Milligan.



COFFEE CREEK RIDING CENTER at 17 E. Coffee Creek Road is a member of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, which consists of more than 700 centers in the United States. NARHA provides education, safety standards and instructor certification. For more information, call 340-8377.