When a Simcoe teen and her horse enter the ring at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto next month, the demonstration will be about more than just riding.
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Emery McCallum, who has cerebral palsy, is one of four para riders representing Equestrian for Everyone who will perform various disciplines at The Royal.
“It’s about demonstrating but also educating and creating awareness,” said Breigh McCallum, Emery’s mom. “It has a lot to do with getting the word out about para riding, showing what people of all abilities can do.”
Fourteen-year-old Emery was born 11 weeks prematurely. CP affects her with spastic and tight muscles, mainly in her legs, ankles, hips, snout and slightly in her arms and hands. Her balance and gait are affected, and Emery often requires a walker or wheelchair when she gets tired.
McCallum, herself a horse rider, enrolled her daughter at TEAD Equestrian Association for the Disabled in Hamilton when she was just 2 1/2, making the two-hour journey every week for the 30-minute lesson.
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“She started solely for physio. It was good for stretching muscles in her hips and legs.”
The lessons began with two side walkers and another person leading.
“She really took to it,” said McCallum. “She’s got this relationship with her horses.”
A year ago, Emery began riding at Pine Ridge Farms, a boarding, training and coaching facility on St. John’s Road West, where she is coached in western pleasure style by Amanda Mummery. Western pleasure evaluates horses on manners and suitability of the animal for a relaxed and slow but collected gait cadence, along with calm and responsive disposition.
“I just love it all,” Emery said of riding.
“Horses will meet you at the gate and they’re always there for you at the end of the day,” added McCallum.
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Emery’s own horse, 25-year-old Indy, who once belonged to her mother, isn’t suitable for the Royal Winter Fair event, so she will be riding Diamond, who is owned by Heather and Tanner Barber of Simcoe.
Emery, whose family includes twin sister Rowyn, brother Chase and dad Mike, will show her skills to the song A Million Dreams by Pink at three demonstrations of about seven minutes each on Nov. 4 and 5.
Emery has never been to The Royal, which has been held on the grounds of Exhibition Place since 1922 and is the largest indoor agricultural fair in the world, attracting more than 300,000 visitors.
“I’m excited but not nervous,” she said.
McCallum said she’s experiencing “all sorts of feels,” including gratitude to the people making the opportunity possible.
“It’s super exciting and something we couldn’t say no to. I just want to see her. She said to me recently ‘my life would be so different if I didn’t have horses.’ There is nothing holding her back. She has her own passion. We’ll see where the road takes her.”
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