For CMT Mom Horse show chance to get back in the saddle

[Guest guest]

Horse show chance to get back in the saddle

By Reeves

http://dnj.midsouthnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20070816/NEWS01/708160325/1002

Deanie Yoest has a goal. This time next year, the middle-aged mom

wants to be able to get on one of her 12 Paso Fino horses — by

herself.

Suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a neurological disorder that has

affected her feet, the avid horse fan hasn't been able to get in the

saddle by herself since she was 17 and taking dressage classes.

" It takes a committee, " she said with a laugh while waiting to do

her weight training at Sports

" One to hold the horse still, one to situate my feet, and one to

situate my butt. "

Once in the saddle, she can still ride, and plans to see a lot of

her favorite breed this weekend at the MTSU Livestock Center on

Greenland Drive, where the Festival del Voluntario Espiritu

(Festival of the Volunteer Spirit) is taking place from Friday

through Sunday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day.

Admission is free, and she encourages everyone to come out and see

the breed famed for its smooth gait and quick, shuffling step. Paso

Finos are the end result of a breeding program started, although not

intentionally, by Columbus, when he brought Andalusians,

Barbs and the now-extinct Spanish Jennets to Central and South

America centuries ago.

" They're known for carrying their riders for days over mountain

ranges and through jungles, " Yoest said. " They can carry men over

300 pounds, all day. They're little — but they're real strong. "

She has come to rely on that strength. Spending decades in leg

braces and other orthopedic devices has led to a more sedentary

lifestyle than Yoest would prefer. She (and her cardiologist) will

be the first ones to tell you another one of her goals — to lose 100

pounds.

" I want to be able to get on my horse by myself, " she said. " There's

a fun show in October and I'd hoped I'd be able to do it by then,

but they said my leg won't be strong enough. "

" They " are the trainers at Sports Com, who have been working with

Yoest to build up her upper body strength, as well as other areas.

She recently had a series of operations that basically reconstructed

her fallen arches — an aspect of her disorder — but one foot is

still in its protective device. She has, in the past, had to have

boots custom ordered and made to compensate for her braces.

For years, owning and riding horses was a distant dream — between

living in Atlanta suburbia and her health problems. But after moving

to the country, on a farm in the Auburntown-Watertown area, she saw

a friend's Paso Finos in action and the gliding gait and good nature

of the breed brought horses back into her life.

" That's what's so great about these horses, " Yoest said. " They are

so smooth ...

" A lot of people start out riding hunter-jumpers, or Tennessee

walking Horses, " she said.

When those same riders get older, Yoest went on, and start having

hip, knee and back pains, they give up riding.

" With the hunters, they trot, and you have to post. "

With Paso Finos, you don't. The natural, shuffling gait is very

smooth, and the horses tend to be very gentle, making them the ideal

therapy horse, Yoest said.

For Yoest, seeing was believing, and she hopes other ex-riders who

are missing the equine experience will visit the show this weekend

and see for themselves what good therapy horses Paso Finos can be