Former Horseback Rider Crippled By Parkinson’s Gets Her Wish To Ride A Horse One Last Time
BY THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE
Nelly Jacobs has loved horses since she was a little girl. She grew up riding them in Holland and has won many horseback-riding prizes. It was something she thought she would do for the rest of her life.
When she was 51, she started showing signs of Parkinson’s disease. Eventually, her tremors got so bad that she had to give up riding horses and became wheelchair-bound.
As years went by, Jacobs missed riding horses but her love for them never went away. Now, at 87 years old, her dream was to be able to ride a horse one more time.
The Hidden Desires Project heard about Jacobs’ wish and decided to help make it come true. They built a bed that fit on top of two horses that she could lie down on while they walked.
Jacobs greeted the two horses that were about to make her dream come true. Volunteers lifted her hand to their velvet noses. She even gave someone a tasty treat.
They slowly lifted her from her wheelchair into a sling and then put her on the custom beds that were on top of two large horses. Once she was situated, the horses were asked to go forward and that is when all her memories came flooding back of her days in the saddle.
Feeling the bouncing while being on top of the horses brought back so many wonderful memories for her and left a huge smile on her face. Everyone involved said all the effort was worth it to see her smile.
Watch Jacobs’ last horseback-ride in the video: https://youtu.be/RwVIiPX81m8
