When it comes to a ‘bucket list’, it’s different for everyone … from wanting to skydive to bungy jump from wanting to trek to Nepal to white-water rafting.
For Lisa Payne however, it was as simple as wanting to ride a horse … because Lisa has a debilitating hereditary disease but one that hasn’t stopped her zest for life. Lisa has what is known as CMT.
CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited peripheral nerve disorder that was named after the physicians who discovered it in 1886: Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie and Henry Tooth. It is a condition caused by one or more defective genes that can be inherited from one or both parents.
CMT affects the nerves that control voluntary muscle activities with symptoms that include weakness of leg muscles, difficulty standing, frequent tripping, difficulty walking, difficulty moving fingers, hands, wrists, feet and tongue and foot deformity.
Physical therapy is a treatment that involves many stretches and exercises to help increase muscle strength and prevent muscle loss or atrophy.
However, for Lisa Payne, it is also living life to the fullest. She turned 50 in July (2020). “My mom went into a nursing home at 40 years of age and passed at 59. Part of the reason for my bucket list is wanting to squeeze as much life out of the time I have … and celebrating 50 ‘not’ in a nursing home is in and of itself a gift.”
Payne’s aunt and uncle, Julie and Larry Cardiff, have been helping their niece fulfill her bucket list and arranged for a horseback riding session at the highly renowned therapeutic equestrienne riding facility, Pegasus Riding Association Nurturing Challenged Equestriennes (P.R.A.N.C.E.) in Port Elgin.
At the beginning, Payne was very hesitant and tentative as she was lifted on to the back of Sienna, a gentle chestnut who patiently waited while her rider settled into the saddle. The staff and volunteers reassured Payne and explained that nothing would happen until she was ready … and then they were slowly off into the arena.
Husband, Don, also joined his wife on her ‘bucket list’ journey, as he climbed aboard the gentle Lucy.
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PRANCE handlers walk with the riders, carefully handling the horses, while giving the riders a sense of confidence as they eventually moved into a comfort with the animals.
By the end of the session, what had begun as tentativeness ended up in a relaxed easiness, at one with the horses and with smiles all around.
“If we can help someone like Lisa fulfill a dream, then that’s what is the most important,” says Ann Marie Johnston, manager of the facility.
What’s next for Lisa Payne? She has tried axe throwing and now horseback riding, so who knows what’s next on her ‘bucket list’ … but there is no doubt that she will be trying something unusual.
