By Karen Stewart
Barbara Karns found her legs again on the back of a horse.
Karns’ life has narrowed recently to slow movement from her bed to a chair. When she stands, she is stooped.
Horse mementos filling Karns’ Pacific, Mo. home testify to her lifelong love of horses. When her cancer went into remission several years ago, she made her dreams of owning a horse come true.
“I went to buy one horse, but I ended up buying three, and started working and riding them,” Karns remembers. “I was only able to enjoy them for a month before the cancer was back and my legs swelled so I couldn’t ride. My family didn’t want to be there without me, so the horses are big pets now and have the run of the pasture.”
Elizabeth Vega of BJC Hospice was working with Karns on a book of memories to leave behind for her children and grandchildren. “I asked her about a life wish, and she said ‘I sure would like to get on a horse one last time.’ Her eyes just lit up.”
Vega did research and found the Therapeutic Horsemanship program in Wentzville. Joanne McColgan, Karns’ hospice nurse, then visited the facility. The program uses the movement of the horse to help its riders, mostly children, with disabilities. The horse’s gait is similar to the human walk. Riding strengthens and supports the spine and pelvis and helps improve balance, coordination and strength and gently mobilizes the joints. Each session is supervised by a licensed occupational or physical therapist and a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association-certified riding instructor.
“When Elizabeth mentioned this to me, I thought nothing would work out. Then they got the doctor to sign off on this, and I said, ‘Maybe this will happen.’ The day we went, as we got closer to the facility, I said, ‘This really is going to happen,’” says Karns. “It was so good to get out, despite the bad weather.”
Karns’ daughter rode with her. “Horses were a thing she and I got into together,” Karns says. “We were only able to ride together once or twice before the cancer came back.”
Sandy Rafferty, founder of Therapeutic Horsemanship and an occupational therapist, watched Karns ride. “She was so thrilled to be up there. Barbara exhibited great balance, was able to sit up straight and stay centered in the saddle.
“Since she has problems walking, to step around the arena without stopping was great,” Rafferty says. “She reached out and patted the horse’s neck, and her daughter came over and added her hand as well. We were so happy to be a part of that.”
“Barbara was very apprehensive at first, and unsure she would be able to get on the horse,” McColgan says. “When they got her up there, you would have never known it was the same person. It was an amazing change.”
“I knew this was important to her, but I had no idea how palliative it would be,” Vega says. “She said she felt herself again.
“Real life is lived in the moment. It can be as simple as getting a dying woman on a horse. People say they don’t want to give a person false hope. She was not sure she could get on a horse. But she did and allowed herself the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised.
“By her own words she is dying, but she is also living. Does she want to do it again? Absolutely.”
For more information on BJC Hospice, call 314-872-5050.
