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Meet
Alex 2005
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Meet Mallory
2004
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Meet Jared 2003
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Meet Taisha
2002
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Meet Sammy 2006
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Meet Kayleigh 2007
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Meet Austin 2008
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Meet Natalie 2008
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2008
Natalie's Story:
When I was expecting my sixth child 3 years ago,
I automatically assumed the baby would be healthy just like my other 5
children. I was therefore unprepared when Natalie came into this
world with Downs Syndrome. I was extremely frightened and also
experienced an incredible sadness. This was due to the fact that I had
no prior experience or knowledge of this disorder and what it meant to
Natalie’s future. I immediately began to educate myself through books
and networking with experts in the field.
Early on, Natalie had many medical and physical complications. She
experienced an intestinal obstruction that required surgery and she had
a hole in her heart. I immediately became proactive and began taking
Natalie to many therapies. This included speech, physical, and
occupational therapy. Through it all, I kept a positive attitude that
not only benefited myself, but Natalie as well. I was
unaware at the time of therapies that involved equines.
While attending the Broward County Respite Picnic, Natalie and I came
in contact with Personal Ponies for the first time. For Natalie, it was
love at first sight! She immediately was attracted to the ponies and
insisted on staying with the ponies even after she was redirected to
some of the other activities. Seeing the effect this therapeutic
program was having on my daughter in just one day, I decided to take
Natalie for some one-on-one "Pony Time" with Sandra Seiden, the state
Florida State Director of Personal Ponies.
My initial goals for Natalie involved gaining a
respect for animals, treating them gently and with
kindness. Quickly into the program, these goals and a whole
lot more were starting to be realized. Natalie‘s natural curiosity and
willingness to learn was only complimented by her special bond with
Button, her therapeutic equine buddy. Due to his small size and
friendly manner, Natalie felt very comfortable and soon insisted on
grooming him independently. The Program was having an amazing effect on
her! She loved her new found independence, and was able to stay focused
on a task for a longer period of time - at home her attention
span was incredibly short - and her verbal skills increased. Most
importantly, Natalie laughs and smiles the entire session.
I am extremely grateful to such a fantastic program. I hope to
continue the sessions for Natalie as she grows older. Natalie and
I look forward to spending time with our new friends, human and equine,
at Personal Ponies. Thank you Sandra and all the wonderful people in
the Personal Ponies Program.
2008
Austin's
Story:
Austin
is 14 years old. He has microcephaly and is severely developmentally
delayed. He is extremely social and loves all
people and animals, but
cannot verbalize and is just beginning
to learn to walk on his own. He
is always his teachers favorite
because of his sweet demeanor and
personality. He is a very
happy child and loves the outdoors and especially loves water.
Austin enjoys,
his ponies, Maddox and Star and has fun
watching them. I sometimes even
sit Austin
in the pasture with his ponies and they are so sweet
and
kind to him.
Austin’s older
sister, Hannah, rides horses and ponies in
the hunter/jumper circuit,
so Austin has been around
horses most of his life. Now Austin has his OWN ponies!
Maddox and
Star have been wonderful companions for
Austin and have even enjoyed
their first outing to the
Linda Nolen Learning Center, where over 30
kids visited
with them and played with them. The ponies were wonderful
with the children and brought smiles to many faces!
Austin looks
forward to “sharing” his ponies and the
magic even more in the future.
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