88 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
director of Good Hope. “It’s 20 acres. It doesn’t feel like Miami. It’s
out of the city and hustle and bustle of life.”
Still, Erick wasn’t always sure Good Hope would work out for
him. “I knew what horseback riding was, but I didn’t know how it
could be therapeutic,” he said. “I had ridden a horse but more for
fun when I was a kid. The thing is when I rode before as a kid I
hadn’t paid much attention to it and I didn’t know it was a workout
or anything like that.”
Today, Erick refers to riding horses as just that – a workout.
Brooke E. Westmoreland, MS/OTR, the therapist from the spinal
cord unit of the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs
Medical Center, agrees. “It helps Erick [to work] with the horse
because it has a rhythmic gait that is similar to the human’s gait –
so having that helps with being able to carry out the feeling of how
your gait should be,” she explained. She also commented that the
program helps Erick with strength, flexibility and endurance.
But physical conditioning isn’t the only thing therapeutic
By Dani Moritz
An aircraft machinist in the Navy, Erick Hernandez’s life was
changed forever during a diving accident. “I jumped into a river.
The water was shallow and we didn’t know,” he said. “I went into
the water and hit a rock and snapped my neck back. After that,
once I hit, I couldn’t move anything. I was paralyzed.”
It would have been easy for Erick to take the path of resentment
and wonder
why me
. But, that is far from the path Erick chose.
Considered an incomplete quadriplegic (meaning all four limbs
have been affected, but he’s not completely paralyzed), Erick was
determined to get better – and he did.
In October of 2012, he was enrolled in a Horses Helping Heroes
program at Good Hope Equestrian Center in Miami-Dade County,
Florida – with the help of the VA. In the beginning, he could barely
walk from his car to the mounting ramp. Today, he happily walks
the barn premises – soaking in everything about the barn, from
the people to the horses and he’s always enjoying the peaceful
atmosphere.
“It’s a beautiful setting out here,” said Peggy Bass, founder and
e
Horses Helping Heroes – A Tribute To America
Erick and Second Chance – one of the favorites at Good Hope
Equestrian Center.
The Will To Go On:
How Horses Healed Erick Hernandez
Erick riding Steppin with Style in 2013. Steppin was the original
horse that Erick rode and his favorite. Unfortunately, Steppin has
been retired from the program.
Photos courtesy of Good Hope Equestrian Center
