 Stacy Huston, ’01, Founds a therapeutic riding program The law will have to wait. The chronically ill children of Oakland County need her more. BY PATRICIA MAJHER
Huston grew up surrounded by horses at her parents’ 12-acre farm in Ortonville, Michigan. Riding for pleasure and show consumed much of her childhood. But when it came time to think about careers, she set aside her love for all things equine and looked to her father for inspiration instead. “He was a police officer,” she explained, “and that’s what got me interested in the law.” She was particularly drawn to the language of law, so it’s no surprise that she earned a BA in English. With that under her belt, she applied to MSU-DCL: “I liked the feeling of attending a small, private school within a large, Big 10 university.” After completing her JD in December 2001, she took time off to study for the bar exam. That spring, though, some disturbing news made her postpone her plans: “I made a new friend whose sister had nemaline myopathy [a rare neuromuscular disease], and I immediately tried to figure out what I could do to help.” What Huston came up with was a therapeutic riding program for the little girl. “It came naturally to me,” Huston explained. “I’d been teaching horseback riding since I was in high school.” The experience really seemed to lift the girl’s spirits and to distract her from her pain. And that made Huston think about extending her riding program to other kids in need. At first, she considered reaching out to autistic children. But a bit of research revealed that two other instructors in her area already satisfied that niche. An article in Horse Illustrated convinced her to cast her net in a different direction: “I read about a Maryland program called LifeHorse that catered to chronically and terminally ill kids. So I contacted the owners to see if I could set up a similar thing in Michigan.” Huston opened the doors to her own LifeHorse program in April 2002. To get the word out about her program, she visited doctors’ offices and hospitals and set up her own website at www.lifehorse.com. The publicity generated a steady stream of children—ages 3 to 21—who began to come out to her parents’ farm each week. What can a child in pain do with a horse, you might ask? From Huston’s perspective, the answer is simple: “Anything they’re comfortable with. Some kids feel well enough to ride and some can only manage to help groom the horses.” She recounts the story of one little boy who was in such discomfort one day that all he did was cry. “Then he started petting one of the horses and just loved her for an hour. He seemed happy enough just doing that.” Kids participate in LifeHorse on their own schedules—whenever they feel well enough to visit. Upon their arrival, Huston quickly assesses their needs, then pairs them with the perfect horse: “We’ve got seven horses here, from four months to 20 years old. There’s really something for everybody.” Not surprisingly, one of the most popular mounts is Ele—the horse from her childhood. “She’s an older, calmer horse now,” Huston explained. “The kids really take to her.” Although Huston is the primary riding instructor, her father, mother, sister and brother-in-law also play a part in the operation of LifeHorse. “It’s a real family affair,” she says with a laugh. During her down time, Huston works on soliciting business sponsorships to help defray the cost of caring for the horses. “This program is free to the children who need it,” explained Huston, and she aims to keep it that way. With the program running smoothly, Huston recently returned to her bar exam studies and is contemplating a career in estate planning. That specialty would allow her to exercise her legal skills while keeping a hand in the development of LifeHorse: “My goal is to see it grow throughout the state and the country. There are so many kids who could use it.” |
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