Romney recounts her therapy

Horse Power

Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has done her fair share of traveling for her husband's campaign. Her life, as well as the lives of her husband and their five sons, could be described by the Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere."

And she'd already stopped in the Lowcountry twice on the trail: once in April at a luncheon for Republican women and another in July with her husband to court supporters in former S.C. Gov. James Edwards' Mount Pleasant home.

But Oct. 18, she made a nonpolitical speech to about 250 supporters of Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding at its first Blue Ribbon Event.

Romney talked about her childhood of loving horseback riding as well as its therapeutic results. She knows firsthand because she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998.

"It's so extraordinary what horses and horseback riding can do for the soul," she said in her speech. "There's no one here who probably loves horses as much as me, although some of you might argue with that!"

During the time when the former first lady of Massachusetts was struggling to move her limbs and muster enough energy to do simple tasks, she said, her return to horseback riding meant everything to her.

She described the horse she rode as a child as a dear part of growing up.

"I just loved that horse," she said. "She was my best friend. I don't know how else to describe it."

As Romney got older and attended Brigham Young University, horseback riding faded into the background. But when her youngest son was about to graduate from high school, she decided she wanted to take formal lessons. It was around this time she started to notice her increasing tendency to fall or feel a lack of balance and numbness in various parts of her body.

She also had bouts of extreme fatigue. "It never went away, ever."

After her brother suggested she see a neurologist, she went with husband Mitt and received her diagnosis. Although Romney participated in a number of treatments such as intravenous steroids, reflexology and acupuncture, she gives a lot of credit to the equine therapy. Her multiple sclerosis is in remission now.

"A major part of it for me was the horses. The riding made me strong," she said.

Mallory Norvell, CATR's vice president on the board of directors, said Romney's speech was just what the organization wanted for its first Blue Ribbon luncheon, which raised money for a scholarship program.

"We've never done anything on this scale before," Norvell said. "We're not a huge program in terms of numbers, but we're huge in terms of the impact we have."

She said that in recent times, CATR has been reimbursed by some insurance companies because therapeutic riding is starting to be viewed as a legitimate therapy.

"It's wonderful because she loved horses before she got sick, and then, almost by accident, she went back to them when she was sick," said Murray Neale, CATR's executive director.

She said she also admires Romney for supporting a similar public equine-therapy program in Massachusetts. As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney approved a 99-year lease between the state and the Tewksbury Hospital Equestrian Farm.

"I mean, look at her. It's hard to imagine when she walks into the room that she was so sick before," Neale said.

Reach Sophia Rodriguez at 937-5538 or srodriguez@postandcourier.com.