Newspaper Page Text
July 2, 2008
Reporter
PAGE 1C
Horseback healing
Misty Vaughn and Christian Gray, along with Ziggy and some horses at Loan Oak Farms.
L one Oak Farms is
located on Estes
Road in Boling-
broke and is
owned and oper
ated by Christian
Gray. You may asso
ciate Christian with
Ziggy the zebra.
Christian fought the
Department of Nat
ural Resources in
court to be able to
keep Ziggy and final
ly won the case, to the
community’s relief.
Now, almost a year lat
er, Christian has come
a long way with the develop
ment of the 16 acre tract. He
started out with two horses
and now has over 20, and two
that are boarded.
His two daughters,
Chloe & Abby are his right
hands around the “neigh
borhood playground.”
Chloe, only 13, already has
quite a list of clientele. She
gives western riding les
sons every week and the
kids love her. Christian
says she also helps break
in some of the horses.
During my visit,
Christian introduced me to
his girlfriend and partner,
Misty Vaughn. Misty owns
Strategies and is an occu
pational therapist who spe
cializes in Hippo therapy
which comes from the
Greek roots hippo - mean
ing horse and therapy.
Misty explained that hyp
notherapy is a medically
prescribed physical, occu
pational and speech thera
py treatment strategy that
utilizes equine movement.
Patients with developmen
tal disorders, neuromuscu
lar disabilities or skeletal
impairments can achieve
great improvement in their
condition and unlike tradi
tional clinical therapy, they
actually look for
ward to coming to
their appointment
at the barn. A
horse's rhythmic,
repetitive move
ments work to
improve the
patients muscle
tone, balance, pos
ture, coordination,
strength, flexibility
and cognitive skills.
Misty is passionate about
her work and says her
greatest reward is seeing a
child who is confined to a
wheelchair up on a horse.
She loves seeing the joy it
brings them for that hour
to look down at the world
instead of up at it, and to
have the freedom of move
ment (with a horse doing
their walking).
Misty says this work is
very hard on the horse.
Although she and
Christian have several
horses that have had
extensive training to per
form this task, they have
to switch them out often to
prevent burnout. She says
this is the most stressful
job a horse can have and
the horse must love the
job. Her best horse,
Ricochet, has been working
with her for over six years
and is a favorite among
her patients.
Misty says her patients'
siblings love to come along
and while she is working
with her patient, they
explore the grounds, visit
Ziggy, the kittens, dogs,
ducks and even a pig. Or
they can jump on the tram
poline or swing on the tree
swings. The parents have a
chance to relax for an hour
and enjoy the facility too.
This Halloween, Misty
and Christian will be host
ing a Trick or Treat party
for the patients and plan to
dress the horses up. The
patients and visitors will
be able to trick or treat at
each stall in the barn.
Christian also has plans to
expand the facility as the
business is fast growing.
He says he will have a
new, upscale air condi
tioned horse barn and
arena and will house the
office.
They need volunteers. If
you need volunteer credit
for school or if you just
have some spare time, give
them a call. They promise
you will leave with a new
respect for the horses and
life in general.
If you know someone that
may benefit from therapy
on horseback, give
Strategies a call. Misty can
be reached at 706-975-9244
and Christian can be
reached at 256-3227.
By Vicki
Smith
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