How Personal Growth And Giving Back Go Hand In… Hoof 

by Brandon McGlone
sports@garrardcentralrecord.com

(Lancaster, KY - November 19, 2020) — “Autism is often described as a cat living in a dog world, so you can imagine, it’s very hard,” 15-year-old Mason Cox described what it was like going through life on the autistic spectrum as he does. 

Luckily, Cox has found a place where it doesn’t matter if you live as a “cat” or a “dog” -- he can find respite in a horse world. North Garrard’s Hooves of Hope has been a peaceful and therapeutic escape for the Lafayette High School student for the past three and a half years.

“It allows me to destress which is real nice,” Cox explained before his weekly riding session. “Sometimes school gets overwhelming and I get really stressed out about having too much to do. Whenever I come out here it basically just allows me to forget about it all for an hour.”

Beyond relaxation, the program also helps Mason form a bond with the horses and instructors which is beneficial for him as he navigates life beyond the riding arena -- in a neurotypical (non-autistic) world. When he is with Ellie, his current horse partner at the center, he is acquiring skills that help him far greater than as just a rider.

“Ellie is energetic,” Mason described the mare. “Her energy can go all sorts of places, but if you concentrate and focus on it, you can make it go where you want it to go. Horses can pick up on your emotions, believe it or not. So if you’re feeling stressed, she’s going to pick up on that. If you’re feeling nervous, she’s going to pick up on that. They’re going to react, because they can sense it. With them being able to relate to your feelings, and you kind of knowing what they’re thinking, it’s definitely allowed me to be better with social skills, which is something I’ve struggled with pretty much my whole life.”

Identifying a horse’s needs, and thus other people’s needs, has made Mason more sympathetic to those in his environment. Now he is much quicker to recognize a problem, and more willing to see if he can fix it. So, when he found out that Hooves of Hope was without a way to clean their saddle pads and other laundry on site, he set about a cure. This led to his donating a washer and dryer to the equine center that had helped him so much in his personal growth..

Hooves of Hope is a non-profit organization on Chenault Bridge Road that was founded in 2006 by Blair Newsome. Though COVID-19 concerns have reined in the entire gamut the equestrian center normally offers, at full operation it serves over 200 people with therapeutic riding, EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) therapy, a veteran’s program called Operation Hope, an at-risk youth program, as well as volunteer and intern opportunities.

“They’ve kept me out of trouble,” Newsome laughed when asked what horses have meant to her throughout her life. “Horses have been a part of my life since before I could walk. Because I’ve had horses all my life, to be able to give back to the community for kids, and even adults, who didn’t have the opportunity -- for me there was just no question -- I had to do it.”

Newsome has a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine with a concentration in athletic training, and a bachelor’s in equine therapy. Having studied the health of both humans and horses, she has a unique perspective on how the two species and their well-being can coincide. At Hooves of Hope she has assembled a solid team -- homo sapien and equine -- that are equipped to provide individualized services to a wide array of people with special emotional, mental or physical needs.

“They are incredibly intuitive, smart, and can pick up on one’s emotions,” Newsome said about horses. “Every day you can watch a horse interact with somebody else and be amazed. Maybe a person comes in and they just have a lot of stuff going on -- a lot of emotions. Maybe there’s some trauma, sadness, something like that. And you’ll watch a horse react to that emotion being put out, and you’ll see the interaction, and you can’t believe that’s how they are with that person. They don’t judge. They want that bond with a person. They’re very supportive, and they’ll pick up on what’s going on. It’s incredible what they do and what they pick up on.”

Cox’s primary instructor is Laura Friday, the center’s program directory. Friday is PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) certified and completed a double major in equine science and social work from Asbury University. She is working on a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky in social work and also teaches a class at Asbury.

“I really enjoy being able to practice here and then share what I know with college students that are going into the same field,” the native Minnesotan said.

Though she couldn’t afford her own, Friday grew up riding and doing leases on other people’s horses.

“Even in high school I had a desire to teach, and I had a heart for people with disorders and disabilities -- allowing them to experience things that I got to experience,” she explained what brought her to this current career path.

Friday is very grateful to find fulfillment in her work as she witnesses a rider’s personal growth.

“For me the most rewarding part is when you see a rider have a light-bulb moment,” she said. “Whether that’s when they learn how to stop their horse by pulling back with both reins, or they got their horse to trot on their own independently in the arena. Whatever it is -- whatever that looks like for that rider -- that’s the most rewarding part because of the smiles on their faces and the independence, the confidence, they gain from that.

“The parents’ support of what their child is doing is incredible to me. We have parents come in that don’t quite know what therapeutic riding is, and they’re excited for their kid to ride, but after the first couple of lessons they’re like, ‘I didn’t know they could do that!’ And they can because we’re able to give them the environment in which they’re safe and supported, and they flourish from there in their independence.”

Mason Cox’s parents, Trevor and Jennifer, can relate to that description as they’ve seen the confidence in their son grow through his time at Hooves of Hope.

“About the time we came here Mason was starting his tween years,” Jennifer said. “He had started some new behaviors like pulling his hair out -- he literally had patches -- just from stress. He had great teachers and was in a great school, but it’s just stressful. It’s hard being different. He would look forward to coming here and I think it really helped with his stress. It was a lifeline for him -- a place where he didn’t feel so different -- or where his kind of different didn’t matter. The horses don’t care. They don’t mind if you’re different.”

“This is one thing we don’t have to make him do,” Trevor added. “He always wants to come and do this and that’s great to see.” 

Socializing can be difficult for people with autism, so when Mason had a teacher send home peppermints for the horses, his parents were happy to know that he was sharing his experiences at Hooves of Hope with people at school.

“It helps with the interpersonal, the communication, the socialization,” Trevor explained. “It’s the confidence to be able to talk about something that isn’t appliances. Kids don’t care about appliances, but everybody likes horses, so it gives him a conversation piece to talk about and that’s been beneficial.”

Still, appliances are Mason’s bread and butter when it comes to topics of discussion. He has a small collection that includes hand mixers, blenders, vacuums and alarm clocks.

“I’ll take it apart and work with it but what’s really satisfying to me is being able to use my things,” Mason said. “Like I got my dream vacuum cleaner a few months ago and I just love the way the handle feels in my hand, I love the way that they sound, I love just the whole process of using them.”

Mason described seeing the world through pictures instead of words. His first real drawing as a child was an electrical diagram of where he imagined the outlets were mapped out behind the walls of his preschool -- not the family portrait his teacher had asked the kids to make. While most toddlers may be soothed by a favorite cartoon or song, for Mason it was the whir of a washing machine that set him at ease. His mother said it was common to find crumbs in the laundry room where Mason had taken a snack in to sit on top of the dryer while he watched clothes go through the washer’s cycles -- a show made possible through a faulty lift switch that would allow the machine to run while the door was open.

“We had a 1974 Maytag A-107 and DE-306 halo heat dryer,” Mason explained. “The dryer was bottom of the line and the washer was just about the bottom of the line. They were those center-dial Maytags if you remember those. I absolutely loved those. Those are what started it all for me. I just loved the way they sounded, the way they looked, the way the agitator would so gracefully agitate the clothes in powerful, yet gentle, strokes -- 180 degrees back and forth. Sadly, in about 2013, the washer blew the transmission and we had to get rid of them.”

Mason didn’t like the replacement set that his parents purchased, but they didn’t last long. However, he is satisfied with the speed queen they currently have.

This passion for appliances, and the appreciation he has for Hooves of Hope, allowed two of Mason’s worlds to come together as he gifted a washer/dryer combo to the center.

“Just his love of being here is what brought the washer and dryer donation,” Friday said. “We were talking one day and he asked how we cleaned our saddle pads. I told him Blair or I would take them home and wash them. He wondered why we didn’t have a set here and we told him we just hadn’t found one and didn’t know what to get. He took it upon himself to do it.”

Mason felt that he had been given a lot from the riding program, and he decided it was the right thing to do to give back in the best way he knew how.

“They were having to take them home to wash them, and they had the hookup and stuff, so I figured I really should get that and I have the ability to repair them and all,” Cox explained. “I felt like they needed one. They had done so much for me and I just wanted to give back.”

So Mason sold a dryer he had repaired for $100 on Facebook marketplace, took all the money he had saved up from mowing lawns, and visited a pawn shop that had advertised on Craigslist the perfect unit that fit the needs and space of the equestrian center -- a Whirlpool thin twin stacked washer/dryer.

“I managed to talk the guy at the pawn shop down a little bit, but not too much,” Mason laughed.

“That was what he wanted to do with the money he earned working,” Trevor said smiling. “We’re extremely proud that he’s wanting to give back to something that he’s gained so much from.”

For the Coxes the donation pales in comparison to what Mason has gained through his time at Hooves of Hope.

“I’m not sure they know exactly how much they helped him through those years,” Jennifer said referring to the turbulent times when Mason first began his therapeutic riding journey. “It’s really affected our lives and we’d like to see that happen for other people. They’re very kind. He’s had several different instructors and all of them have been understanding. He wouldn’t always come in here with the best frame of mind. You have a teenage kid coming from school and they’re stressed, frustrated -- they’re not their best self when they get here. The instructors were always patient but they’re also persistent. They’d bring him around and he would always leave here better than he came. They’re a real blessing. We’re so thankful.”

“I would highly recommend it to anyone who is just really stressed out about life and just needs somewhere to forget about it for like an hour,” Mason said, hoping others will take advantage of the services offered at Hooves of Hope. “And the scenery is so beautiful -- you can just take it in. My mom has even said that it’s like therapy for parents.”

Mason summed up how well he felt at home with the atmosphere at the equine center by joking:

“They just get my kind of crazy!”

They not only get his kind of crazy, but they are grateful for it.

You can contact Hooves of Hope Equestrian Center at (859)792-8938 or hoovesofhope@aol.com, or find more information at hoovesofhopeequestriancenter.com or on Facebook.