Cynthia Ruiz was a17-year-old girl who was focused and had goals. Though she was competing Hunter/Jumper at the national level and trying to gain a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team, she was living a normal teenage life. Then a tragic car accident left her with a broken back and paralyzed from the waist down. That accident changed her life and ended most of her physical goals and dreams.

Cindy and Sir Lancelot

Photo by Diane Payne

Though she sold her horse, she did not give up on life itself. She excelled academically and went on to get three degrees in Finance, Accounting and Business from Purdue and the University of Houston. After graduating, she married Ed Ruiz, and went on to become a CPA. Ed and Cynthia soon had a daughter, Katherine.

Cynthia said, "I would do anything I wanted to and if you told me I couldn't do something, I did it." She always believed, "If you can dream it, you can do it. But there was a void without the horses. You get it in the blood. When you sit by the wayside and say, well I used to ride but I can't anymore, after a while you just accept it."

Cynthia had not allowed the wheelchair to stop her from living, but it was not until her daughter Kathrine started riding that she realized she had a empty space in her life that was obviously troubling to her. With mixed feelings she took her daughter to lessons, as she had not been to a barn since she was able to ride.

"One of the hardest things was watching from the ground. I rode for so many years and I had become very accomplished. Though I was trilled for my daughter and I was glad to be around the horses, it was kind of bittersweet," she recounted.

But she continued to encourage her daughter and it was her daughter's improvement that surprisingly opened Cynthia's window of opportunity to fill that equine void and passion she had missed for so long. As her daughter advanced her riding skills, it was obvious that they needed to start leasing a more advanced horse. The person who owned the horse they were interested in told Cynthia that she volunteered at a therapeutic riding program called "SIRE."

Cynthia raced to call the center where she had heard they had therapeutic riding and she had the forms and doctor's release papers completed almost the same day.

"But on the horse... all things are equal. The horse is the great equalizer," she says with great passion. He gives her the legs to run, and compete again.

"I was not thinking of therapy at all, just getting on a horse in an environment with people trained and knowledgeable enough to keep me safe. I remember the day distinctly. It was on an older Olympic dressage horse named Jasmine and I remember they rolled me up the mounting ramp, put me up and on her. I became a stick, as stiff as a board. Though I remembered how I could ride before, suddenly I had to re-learn everything. I had no sense of balance and cueing the horse with my legs was obviously gone. I was so rigid. But what a great horse, she just relaxed which allowed me to relax. It was a total mixture of excitement and fear, very thrilling. I had two sidewalkers, but I was on a horse again," she recalled excitedly.

"By the end of the second or third ride, I was down to one sidewalker. I had to rebuild the muscles and I could really feel them." For the past 20 years she had tried constant physical therapy with parallel bars, braces, a stationary bike and rowing machines. But with the horseback riding, now she was having real return of muscle and nerve regeneration. Whether it was the recall of her passion or just working the muscles differently, it didn't matter. It was working.

Nothing had worked like this before. She went back to her rehab center and when they completed her check up, she had a 40 percent return of muscle and nerve regeneration. "The only thing I had done differently was therapeutic riding. They couldn't explain it. They weren't buying it since it was just too new to them."

Cynthia says getting on the horse again "was completion and freedom." Being able to ride alongside her daughter was an incredible experience, a special moment she never thought would be possible. Her instructor at SIRE, Karen Abbott, said, "When riding with her daughter and she is on the horse, it puts them face to face and at eye level. They are mother and daughter, but they are definitely close friends."

"When I was back on the horse I started improving so quickly," Cynthia says. And improve she did. Once you've been an athlete, it is hard to forget. When Cynthia heard that there was equestrian competition, she was driven to find out more. She drove from Houston to Dallas to see and learn about it at the Equest Center, where they had a competitive program for physically challenged riders.

Karen, her SIRE instructor said, "Cindy came to us with a significant horse background. Typically they (clients) don't have that much riding experience or competitive background, nor do they already have that level of equestrian knowledge. I was never surprised at how far she advanced, but only how quickly she sought out after international competition. For her it was totally changing her style of riding, since she had a hunter/jumper background and she had to adapt to dressage. Changing from a two-point seat to sitting back on your pockets is tough for anyone." But Cynthia knew how to face challenges.

Cynthia said, "When dressage started in the Paralympics, my competitive side came out." Her program had a 25-year-old Appendix gelding, Oiler, that was a dressage horse she started training on. "I would drive up to Equest Center in Dallas from Houston, where they had a competitive program. I would drive four hours up and four back to learn what they did and how they did it. There were very few dressage shows for paraplegics at the time, so I had to compete against able-bodied riders at most shows."

"But on the horse... all things are equal. The horse is the great equalizer," she says with great passion. He gives her the legs to run and compete again.

"My first show the weather was horrible and it was freezing cold outside, so bad that the judge was sitting in his truck. Many contestants had dropped out due to the cold, but twenty had stayed signed in. None of the other riders were disabled, but I was just so happy to be there I didn't care about the weather or my competition. I had a blast and I didn't want to come out of the arena. I was smiling through the whole test, I was so happy and thrilled. I won the class and got high score for the day," she recounted. From there Cynthia started traveling nationally and started qualifying to make the world team.

Cindy and Oiler competing

With Oiler, her then 20-year-old partner (now 25,) they qualified for a world championships and represented the U.S., along with six other riders, at the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee Dressage World Championships in Belgium in 2003. "We did okay, the U.S. placed fifth out of sixty countries," she said humbly.

Oiler was soon retired, but Cynthia had found a lifetime friend who had contributed to fulfilling dreams and filling a void. She adopted Oiler and he now lives at Karen Abbott's home. Cynthia also now has a new competition horse, Sir Lancelot, an eight-year-old registered North American Spotted Draft.

Cynthia's husband was pretty worried in the beginning, but he has given her his full support now that he sees the joy it gives her. Seeing mother and daughter in the arena together is a pretty incredible miracle. But Ed has reason to be concerned at times because, with horses, often come falls. While riding in the 2002 Qualifiers, there were 20 to 30 mile per hour crosswinds. A suddenly breaking branch spooked Oiler and Cynthia fell, broke her femur. "I got back on, thinking it was just sprained. The doctor said I was going to be laid up for six months and I said, 'No, I can't, I have three more tests.' People told me there are more world events, but I didn't want to wait. We qualified, broken leg and all."

Cynthia has received a great gift and she is giving back. She volunteered on the Board of Directors of SIRE, her local therapeutic riding program. She was elected to serve on the national Board of Directors for NARHA, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. Karen Abbott says, "She came to us as a client and she soon outgrew us, but she became active in our board and the national organization. Her husband and daughter also volunteer and it has become a true family affair and they all give back."

With US World Team Ribbon

When I asked Cynthia's daughter, Katherine, what she thought of her mom's success, she said, "She is very impressive and she inspires me in all my sports and succeeding in general. But now, just being able to be in the arena with me at the same time is pretty cool, we compare stories and all that."

Cynthia's husband says, "The message here is, if life deals you a curve, here or there, it doesn't mean you can't have an average life like anyone else. I have seen people who are less handicapped than my wife fall apart, but my wife seems to have it all together." Cynthia says, "I'm just trying to inspire others to do their dreams and just go for it. If you can dream it, you can do it."

Cynthia's long-time friend of over 30 years, Carolyn Foster, says about Cynthia, "She is the most astonishing person I have ever known. The way she has handled her disability was courageous. When I first met her she had not come to grips with her disability, but to watch her over the years and the way she has handled her life and not allowed herself to become a victim. She has determination to make a difference in the world. When she discovered therapeutic riding, she decided it was the reason she has become disabled. She knows this is why she is here. She never wallowed in self-pity. She has focused on making a difference to all disabled people."

Cynthia Ruiz, we at Equestrian Network Magazine are glad you are back in the arena and back on a horse, and we commend you for giving back to others what you have gained. We salute you as our Equestrian of the Month.

A book about Cynthia's life experience, called "Horse Healers: Stories of Courage and Hope" and the publisher is Adams Media. The book will contain 35 true stories about the healing power of horses, including Cynthia's, as well as an introduction by Cynthia and a foreword by Dawn Prince-Hughes. The book will be out in February 2007.

For more information about SIRE call (281) 356-7588 or visit their website at www.sire-htec.org.

If you know of someone you think our readers would like to learn about, write to us at info@equestmagazine.com with "Equestrian" in the subject line.