Oct 28, 2002 By Josh Krysak 7 min read

FRANKLIN TWP. – Timmy Meade sits upright in the saddle, a wide grin spread across his face. He turns his horse, the Mighty Madeline Kay, to the right and rides along the edge of the training ring behind his parents’ Franklin Township home. In full western costume, with leather riding chaps and safety helmet, he follows commands from his father, Eddie, who stands along the rail, watching his son navigate his Appaloosa around the ring. His mother, Chris, also on horseback, leads him.

This year, Timmy finished first out of a class of 23 riders in the district 4-H competition, which qualified the Connellsville Area High School student to compete in the Pennsylvania 4-H Show in Harrisburg on Sunday. But for Timmy, horseback riding is more than a sport or a hobby. It is a therapeutic adventure every time he gets in the saddle.

Timmy is legally blind and slightly mentally challenged.

“If he could see where he’s going, he’d be hell on wheels,” Eddie says proudly. “He can ride, but he just can’t see where he is going.”

Timmy was born prematurely in 1986 in Riverside, Calif. His mother was only 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

“Timmy weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces, and we thought he was going to die,” Eddie said.

Timmy spent seven months in an incubator and was given oxygen to help his underdeveloped lungs to function, something that saved him but also left him blind. He has a valve instead of a lens in each eye, and he also suffers from glaucoma.

The Meades admit that at first the challenges and realities of the situation were harsh and hard to cope with.

“When it first happened it was devastating to us, because we had a good business, made good money and did horse shows all over the country,” Eddie said.

Eddie, a Dunbar native who used to work at the Lazy Eye Ranch in California state, had been involved with horses all his life and was a respected trainer when his son was born. His wife was a champion rider.

But the Meades had to give up their passion for horses because of complications with Timmy’s birth.

Every day, they traveled from their home in Palm Springs to the hospital that Timmy was in, 79 miles one way. They attended classes to learn how to take care of their son. They sat through 26 agonizing operations as doctors and specialists worked on Timmy’s eyes. Eddie even took Timmy to Pittsburgh to try to give him one of his own eyes but could not because the damage was not only in the eye but also in the nerves behind it.

Today, Timmy remains on three medications to keep the pressure in his eyes at normal levels, and the doctors have told the Meades that his condition will remain stable, but there are no guarantees.

“It has been a heck of a challenge,” Eddie said, adding that the hard work was nothing compared to the joy of having a son and seeing him excel. “People should not give up hope if they have a premature child. I never thought I would live to see him this age.”

As Timmy grew up and Eddie and Chris adjusted to life without horses, the daily parenting struggles changed, too, from diapers to homework, from feeding to entertaining. The Meades tried to find things for Timmy to do, things that he liked, things that he wanted. It was then that Timmy, who knew his parents had been involved with horses, told his dad that he wanted to ride, a moment Eddie said he would never forget.

“One day he said to me, “Dad I want to ride,’ and that was perfect,” Eddie said.

Eddie and Chris bought three horses, a trailer and supplies for their renewed hobby and named their home Fox Hollow Stables. Timmy began to ride in a local program called Saddles for Success, operated by Joey and Karen Hall, who helped Timmy in the early stages get used to riding horseback. Eddie said that he credits the Halls with training Timmy and that without their help, Timmy would not have achieved as much as he has.

Timmy also began to compete in the therapeutic division of the 4-H program. He continued to progress as a rider and this year placed in the top three at the local qualifying event for the state competition.

Therapeutic division contestants are judged on equitation, or their appearance in the ring and their ability to ride correctly. They are not required to perform a specific program or be judged on the horse’s ability, but only on how they “look” in the saddle.

With Timmy’s blindness and mental disabilities, the Meades said they faced a whole new set of challenges, challenges Eddie never encountered with the thousands of children he trained to ride in the past.

“He can only do what you tell him to do, because he can’t see himself and he has never seen another rider,” Eddie said.

Chris agreed that the whole training process is changed with Timmy.

“It has really been a challenge,” she said. “Just basic things like turning a horse, stopping a horse, how much pressure to use on the reins, where you could just tell someone else just pull a little, with Timmy you have make it so explicit, so it is a real challenge.”

In practice, Eddie will give Timmy specific commands like drive out and pull left, but he said he cannot coach Timmy during competition from the rail, a setback he works around with audible signals for Timmy to follow.

Eddie said that Timmy doesn’t ride that often, only when he wants to, so he doesn’t feel any pressure.

On Sunday, Timmy competed in the 43rd Annual Pennsylvania State 4-H Show, which featured more than 900 youths competing in 109 classes. He competed in the therapeutic division for the second year in a row. Last year he placed seventh.

The 11th grader said he is excited to compete and equally excited to ride the elevator at the hotel, something he loves to do.

“I like to ride in elevators,” he said. Timmy said he likes basketball, too.

According to Eddie, Timmy can make 20 baskets in a row after his foster brothers, Will and Shawn, help him to get his bearings.

“I don’t know how he does it, but he can do it,” said Will.

While little things like tying shoes and fastening buttons remain challenges Timmy has not yet mastered, Eddie said he is making progress.

“He can take a shower, but he can’t see how much soap he needs,” he said. “I taught him to get a glass of milk by himself by putting his finger inside the rim, and when it gets wet he knows to stop pouring.”

Timmy said vowed to do his best in the competition and was optimistic that he could win.

“I’m going to try to win,” he said. “That is the thing to do. All you can do is try hard.”

Chris said she can’t bring herself to watch him compete, but she added that it is Timmy’s attitude that makes her son special.

“All Timmy wants is to please people,” she said. “All he ever says is, ‘I’m going to try really hard to do good,’ and he puts forth so much effort every time that it is good to see him do so well.”

As Timmy sits confidently in the saddle, his face blushing with overwhelming pride, Mighty Madeline Kay gazing into the brilliant autumn sun, Eddie smiles.

For him, it is a dream come true to see his son excel and, more importantly, to see his son happy.

“There are a lot of children like him, and people don’t know what these kids are capable of doing,” he says.

“When I take him out I’m just as proud of him as if he were a movie star. No matter what his problem is, he is still my son. I love him to death. Wherever I go he hangs on to my arm; I lead him. A lot of people shy away from that, but to me it doesn’t matter. I’m his father. If he didn’t have legs, I would be carrying him on my back. It doesn’t make one bit of difference.”