Horseback Riding - SIRE

In a place where rodeo season serves as our own personal Mardi Gras, and trail riders traverse our highway system once a year, it's easy to believe that horses are a still a mode of transportation in the Lone Star state. However, the equine ride that symbolizes our Texas heritage isn't always within reach for all who want to saddle up for a taste of the cowboy way of life.

Saturday, September 11th, a group of people yearning for the chance to get that wild-west feeling, finally got their moment in the saddle.

Amputees of all ages attended a riding lesson at SIRE, Houston's Therapeutic Equestrian Center, in Hockley. Everyone was given a brief instruction class, mounted a horse for a personal lesson, and rode off for a chance to see the world from a whole new perspective.

Amputee Desiree Baptiste looked like she was born to ride. After dismounting and giving her horse a big kiss on the cheek, she told onlookers, "I love him and he loves me! What a wonderful ride, what a feeling of freedom!"

SIRE is a wonderfully unique program, with the mission of improving the quality of life for people with various disabilities through therapeutic horseback riding. SIRE's executive director, Jim Williams welcomed everyone to the facility and gave the audience of both amputees and medical professionals an insight into how these horse's help. "Nothing can duplicate the movement of the human body like riding a horse, for many people, it provides an amazing and healing experience to regain that sense of movement."

The event was organized by Amputees in Action, a Houston based amputee support group. However, this group is about more than support, it's also a social club, giving amputees and their families a time and place to mingle and socialize in a fun environment. Amputee patient Arnold Guerra told us that he's never even heard of a prosthetic organization with this sort of support group and outreach. "It's like you are always having gatherings like this, where we can meet and talk and relate and have a good time. No one else does that," said Guerra.

The 2010 Horseback ride was sponsored by the Amputee & Prosthetic Center in Houston, which was founded in 2005, with the mission of providing better care for amputees with a system of education, advocacy and support.

As the horseback adventure came to a close, amputees and their families left with a feeling of accomplishment, with a renewed sense of strength, and who knows, perhaps a new hobby? What we do know for sure, is that each and every guest got a taste of "giddy-up", and it doesn't get more Texas than that.