The Magic of OZ
I always loved to work with children and started out to be a pediatric nurse. However college was slow because I was a single parent. When I married in 1982 I was able to restart my educational journey. I did receive an ADN in Nursing but could not work with children, becoming a parent had made me soft. In Aug. 1999 my youngest daughter was killed in a 4 wheeler accident. I was able to help my family deal with our loss and to grieve; but it left me empty. My husband identified the emptiness and recognized that I needed an outlet, he encouraged me to get a horse (I had always wanted one, even at play as a child I was the Black Stallion no one could tame). I prayed about it and told a few people what I was looking for. January 2000 a lady called and after hearing my story offered a horse, her cost was three times what I could pay. I told her I could not afford that much. She said she could not discount the offer, but after a couple of hours she called crying, saying she knew this was the horse for me. I told her I did not want an old horse (13 yrs.) and the cost was above my means. She decided that the finances could be worked out, but, she insisted, that I needed to come see him “I have been talking to him and praying and I know he is the horse for you”. I wanted to be polite so I agreed to go see him, but was not really interested. Asking her his name, her answer was “The Otherside”. As soon as my husband came home from work we went and picked up The Otherside , sight unseen , I knew he was the horse for me; as that is where my daughter is- on the other side waiting with GOD.
OZ, is what I call him now as he has become my magical place, a place to heal. He was the most stubborn, willful brat of a horse until I suddenly realized it was me he was reflecting. He allowed me to look at myself. He understood and accepted me with all my faults and mistakes. Training him was a healing time for me, a time to learn and grow. My husband, Bob, built a big arena so I could practice without the other horses causing problems, but it was a lonely place and needed something/someone.
One day June 2007, I prayed and asked what the Lord wanted of me and with a great driving need I went to the computer and searched: “children”,” teaching”,” health” and” horses”. The answer that came back was “Therapeutic Riding Instructor”. Encouraged by Bob I took the tests and passed. Looking further, we decided that I should take a 180 hour course sponsored by A&M so I could be the best Instructor I could be. Having OZ made life more bearable and the healing power of his honest opinion left me with a desire to share his life restoring gifts.
I started on working towards becoming a nonprofit organization that July. I applied for the 501c3, mandatory for a not for profit business, which was approved that November. With By-laws and an inexperienced Board, Prospect Mountain opened its doors January 21 2008.
Bob’s dream has always been to make the farm to look like an old town. All his hard work is shown throughout the grounds and in the rustic looking tack room. There are big, old, oak trees that shade the area where the parents and care givers wait. The riders are welcomed into a quiet, essence of the old west where they find acceptance and a place all their own, a place where they can learn and heal. They can take these life skills, learned during riding sessions, back with them into the “real” world. Prospect Mountain is a place set in the theme of an old mining town where we daily find “Value in all abilities”
Teri Lisenby
