United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi All,

I am the mother of a child with BPB. He has an upper trunk injury and will probably recover enough that primary surgery is not indicated. However, I know that residual shoulder weakness is typical.

My husband and I are both active with horses, and I had always assumed that our children would ride, too (if they were interested, of course). But lately I've been getting depressed that our son may not physically be able to ride... at least, not English with both hands on the reins. Even if he can hold the reins, horses always jerk on the reins when you are learning to ride... that can't be good if you don't have the shoulders to resist.

I was hoping that some of you who have lived with this could tell me if my fears are founded or not. If you don't ride horses, perhaps the next closest activity would be waterskiing - it has similar stress on the shoulders that I'm worried about. Can you do it? Alone or with braces or other help? What can I expect for my son? Should my husband and I give up riding now, if it will be impossible for our son to share it with us?

Any comments are appreciated. Sorry this has to be anonymous, but I'm sure this post would violate our lawyer's instructions!!

Anon

Hi

I never rode a horse but I still would like to, I am afraid of them because I saw one bite my brother and he loved horses... poor animal had been abused by a rider and went crazy... the fear never left and I love horses they are beautiful. Many families have used horseback riding for balance therapy.

Here is a link to some information on Therapeutic Riding. I still may try it LOL

http://www.strides.org/


I tried to waterski and got up a few times I just could not stay up and never realize it was because of my arm and hand grip. None of my girlfriends could even get up... LOL... I had fun and never connected my lack of skill in that area to my arm -- it's nice to be young.

Kathleen

I haven't rode a horse in years...but when I was a child I did ride....not English riding though...so I am not sure.

My "2 cents" is that we should never give up an activity that is pleasurable and feeds our spirits as well as our relationship with our spouses.If we deny ourselves we will not be good for our children. Besides horsemanship is very theraputic and many communnities have theraputic riding programs for disabled adults as well as children;it helps in balance,self esteem, and motivation to try new things.
Usually a person walks along side the rider until the rider can do it independently, then rides along side
of the disabled rider if it is still necessary. Riding horseback has increible and surprising benefits. But it is an individual thing and nobody knows until it is tried.
Carolyn

I have ridden horses but probably not the type of riding that you are speaking of. The horses were trail horses tolerant of an inexperienced rider and eager to return to the corral!! Carefully controlled by the trail hand, we were allowed to canter the horse but not gallop at breakneck speed. That said, I didn't have any problems holding the reins and controlling the horse one handed.

I also water skiied when in my teens and twenties and was could handle a single ski without any problems. Water sking is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. The primary challenge for me was endurance because my unaffected arm was doing most of the heavy duty work. Also, starting from the water was sometimes difficult especially when learning to ski (everybody has that problem) but was dependent on the power of the boat. Starting with two skis and dropping one is always easier. Starting standing from a dock was easiest but it took some practice to acquire that skill.

My advise is to encourage your son to try anything that he has an interest in even though it might be physically challenging. Let him decide what he can and cannot do.

John P.

I have ridden horses--badly- waterskied--badly, but I'm sure glad I tried it. Luckily, my grip is pretty good. It's just supination and elbow extension, wrist contracture---but et your child try. A lot of times, we erbies may do things a little differently, but by using different muscle groups we can adapt an activity. Do watch out for that over use!

BP injury in left arm. No problems with either sport here. I waterskied throughout my teens by using "clincher" water ski gloves. They take a lot of the stress and fatigue off of your good arm by using a simple physics law. I used one on my right hand to get up on slalom for years. Check it out!

http://www.mmwatersports.com/default.ht ... etail1.htm

My son regained enough strength to ride - western though - maybe your son could ride western and neck reign? He also was able to get up on water skiis but couldn't ski very long due strenght issues but he had a blast for the time he was up and he just relied more on the strong arm.

Hi Jon,
I tried to check out your link for gloves but couldn't find the ones you are talking about. Could you elaborate or tell me what I need to click on when I get to the site? I am not the original poster but since my family grew up waterskiing, I want to know how to confront this when my daughter is ready to try. Thanks!
Shannon

bump horsey therapy past