Megan's Story

Megan is a happy, smiling, beautiful, 8-year-old girl with an abundance of personality even though she does not speak. Megan was born with Hydroxyglutaric Aciduria, a very rare disorder that affects her central nervous system. Megan has been in the ROSL Hippotherapy program since the summer of 2002 and has made wonderful progress. Unlike other riders, Megan cried most of the time and had a lot of distress with wearing the helmet on her first day. Megan's core/trunk muscles were very weak and she has low tone throughout her body requiring lots of rests and support during the treatment. Megan also did not walk at this time and has neuromuscular scoliosis (a curvature of the spine).

For many treatments, helpful volunteers carried a tape player with soothing music around the arena, which kept Megan from crying. She was able to enjoy the ride that we knew could make a difference in her life. Today Megan walks with handheld assist to the horse and begins to lift her right leg over the horse to mount. We know she is ready to hop on and she touches a picture of a horse to let us know she wants to "Go". It does not bother her to wear a helmet and she is happy without having any music to soothe her. Megan can ride the horse for 45 minutes and moves in a lovely rhythm like a long dance. Megan sits upright with constantly improving posture and only gentle holds from the sidewalkers. Megan has shown improvements in sitting balance, core strength, lower extremity strength, and communication, to mention only a few. Megan's Mom has also reported that her scoliosis has improved over the years. We are so happy to know Megan and have her spreading joy to all of us.