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Horses Changed My Life
BY Anita Lesko
I
fell in love with horses at the age of four
after my parents took me for rides on a
pony. For twenty-five cents, you would be
led around the track six times on the pony of
your choice. Lots of quarters were spent as no
one could get me off that pony. That became the
Sunday ritual – take Anita to the pony track and
spend half the day there!
Never hearing the word Asperger’s until age
fifty, then getting diagnosed, I obviously never
had any Early Intervention. Actually, I did, only
I didn’t know it at the time. The love of pony
rides turned into an obsession with horses. As
I got older, I desperately wanted riding lessons
and a horse of my own. My parents couldn’t afford either of those. That didn’t stop me. When
I was twelve, I became a working student at a
big stable near my home in New Jersey. I earned
riding time and lessons by mucking out stalls,
painting fences, picking rocks out of the pastures, and cleaning saddles. The more I worked,
the more time I got on the horses.
My dream was to jump horses over big fences
in competition. I spent every summer, weekend,
and holiday at the stable. Horses were my life.
And they were also my therapy. They got me
out of my shell, interacting with people, learning how to work, learning how to take instruction from others, and dramatically improving
my coordination. I began working my way up
the ladder of riding skills. Of course, part of getting on a horse is the possibility of unintentionally coming off the horse! I can still remember
the first fall I sustained. The horse had decided
that he was enjoying the cold weather, took a
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ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
leap into the air and started bucking. Off I went,
splattering on the ground. No injuries, just an
unexpected experience. I got up, dusted myself
off, and we then went over to retrieve the horse
who was standing nearby looking bewildered!
I got back on, only this time I focused more
intently on my position in the saddle, and I
gripped my legs more tightly against the horse’s
sides. Of course I was scared to get back on, but
I did it. It was a learning experience — one of
many! I continued the lessons and mucking out
stalls, and eventually I reached my dream – riding in a jumping competition. I was a working
student from age twelve to twenty-one. It all
changed my life. All the skills I learned during
those years empowered me to have the skills
necessary for life and definitely for my career as
a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. It also
built my self-confidence. I was a little lost soul
when I first started out, but then I blossomed
into what I am today. When I see a horse, I get
tears in my eyes as they all have a very special
place in my heart.
I purchased my first horse at the age of twentynine, after graduating from Columbia University with my Master’s in Nurse Anesthesia. The
day I received the letter congratulating me that
I passed my Board exam, I was on a mission to
finally get my very own horse. That, for sure,
was one of the highlights of my life. I used to
take him to ride in clinics at the United States
Equestrian Team’s Olympic Training Center in
Gladstone, New Jersey.
Although I no longer ride, I still have horses,
“ Horses
were my
life.
And they were also my therapy.
They got me out of my shell,
interacting with people, learning
how to work, learning how to
take instruction from others,
and dramatically improving
my coordination.
”
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
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