Vacaville Reporter
April 30, 2006
Section: News
Therapy through horses
Jason Massad/Staff Writer

At the end of a dusty gravel road near Dixon, inside a shaded arena with shafts of light streaming through open barn doors, sat a tiny miracle of a boy atop a handsome, deep-brown horse.

It was a miracle that E.J. Echols, 4 1/2 years old, was riding his first steed Saturday. It was a miracle that he was joyously smiling as he and his horse, "Sunny," were led around the arena.

It's a miracle that E.J. is still alive.

Born with a genetic defect that defies the laws of probability, the youngster visits doctors and specialists eight times a week, said his grandmother, and adopted mother, Elvie Echols, 57.

His list of ailments are too heartbreaking to count. E.J. has survived three heart surgeries, 11 angioplasties and four bronchial surgeries. A physician accidentally severed half of his vocal chords, which makes it difficult for the child to say more than a few words.

A problem pituitary gland stunts his development. A deformity in his feet, among many other disabilities, make it difficult for him to learn to walk.

But those life-threatening ailments, which would be more than the average person could begin to cope with, were all in the background on Saturday.

After waiting four months, E.J., dressed in a red polo shirt and jeans and capped by an extra-small protective helmet, was learning the basics of riding on the range.

With trainers guiding him around the indoor arena, E.J. grabbed his horse's mane, struggled to stay in the saddle and spontaneously smiled at certain moments during the ride - the smile of a child who thinks the world is a beautiful place.

"For him, this is so special," said Elvie Echols. "For him this is different. It's not, 'I'm just going to therapy.' For him it's, 'I get to see kids, I get to ride a horse, I get to be outside."

E.J. received a $1,200 scholarship from The Reporter's annual Giving Tree program for a year of horse therapy.

The scholarship pays a Dixon group called the Horseplay Therapeutic Riding Center, which teaches children and young adults with a range of handicaps.

On Saturday, trainers weaved E.J. through a course of cones and helped him make left and right circles on his horse.

The 45-minute session was capped of by a short jaunt down and back the gravel road that leads to the arena.

Being on the horse stimulates the movement of walking, said Debra Cleveland, who guided E.J. during his session.

Hip and abdominal muscles strengthen as you balance yourself atop a horse, she said. E.J.'s underdeveloped legs were being exercised as they were spread out over the saddle, she said.

Day to day, E.J. gets around with the help of a walker. As Cleveland congratulated him on lasting through his entire first session, he smiled charmingly and wrapped both his hands around hers.

"It's wonderful for someone to have a first experience like that," Cleveland said. "For someone to last a whole session on their first time ... is impressive."

Kathy Rybicki, one of the lead trainers, was impressed by the youngster as well.

"He's got a strong will and determination," she said. "He's got the heart of a lion."

E.J.'s a grandmama's boy. Elvie Echols said she tries to "make everyday like Christmas" for the boy, because, quite literally, each day could be his last.

In March, the boy was hospitalized for a virus that would have developed into a cold for a normal person. For E.J., with a compromised immune system, it was life threatening. "We had his last rites drawn up," Elvie Echols said matter-of-factly.

But miracles do happen. The Horseplay riding sessions are so popular - and undermanned - that E.J. had to wait four months for his first ride Saturday. The long wait could have been easily too long for the fragile child, but it wasn't.

And now that E.J. has had his first chance to ride, you'll find him in Dixon every weekend. The child will be honing his riding skills and learning the discipline of sport.

It would be easy to pamper the disadvantaged boy. But his grandmother sees the wisdom in giving E.J. something to look forward too for many years to come. Elvie Echols sees a day when her grandchild - who was expected to die at birth - will be barrel racing in the Special Olympics.

"Some boys can run and are playing baseball," she said. "He won't be able to do that. But this is something that he can do."

For more information about local horse therapy, call (707) 447-8733.