Donations help girl and her horse

Nearly $5,000 was sent by Vindicator readers to help send the horses to Texas.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Amy Rhodes doesn't have to go very far to see her friends now.
Amy, 12, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, gave up her hippotherapy last year when her family moved to Texas from Lawrence County, leaving behind Rain, a horse she bonded with during therapy.
But thanks to the generosity of Vindicator readers and physical therapist Sherrie Welsh, Amy and Rain were reunited last month. Rain's yearling, Spirit, was also sent to live with Amy at her Texas home.
"It's pretty neat. They seem to love it here," Amy said Friday.
The horses arrived at the Rhodes home June 10 after a nearly 24-hour drive from Pennsylvania.
Both had been owned by Welsh, who decided to give them to Amy after seeing how Rain reacted around the girl. The horse, who has an arthritic knee, was unresponsive to others, but when Amy appeared, became affectionate and animated, Welsh said.
But sending a horse to Texas wasn't financially feasible for Welsh or the Rhodes family.
Generous help
Welsh's husband, Brian, executive director of the Lawrence County Family Center, a social service agency that serves families and children, agreed to collect money for the cause. Nearly $5,000 was raised after a story about Amy and Rain appeared in the March 14 edition of The Vindicator.
Brian Welsh said the generous donations allowed them to pay for medical costs to prepare Rain and her baby, Spirit, who needed to be gelded before the trip. They were also able to buy a special saddle and equipment that Amy can use with the horses. All of the money went toward the horses' care and trip and none was kept by the Family Center for administrative fees, he noted.
"Because of people's generosity, it went from one horse to two horses," Welsh said, noting his wife didn't want to split up mother and baby.
Randy and Mary Ann Horvath, owners of Wrangler's Olde Country Style Restaurant in Jackson Township, Mahoning County, read the Vindicator story and offered to haul the horse for free.
"Actually, it was pretty much my wife's idea," Randy Horvath said. "After she read the article she said, 'There's a young girl who would like to have a horse hauled to Texas.' I said, 'Heck yeah, I will take the horse.'"
The Horvaths their and 9-year-old son, Colton, donated their time and vehicle, but Welsh insisted on paying for fuel for the trip from donations.
Out West
Randy Horvath said both horses took to their new Texas home soon after arriving.
"They got right into the mud and rolled in it" after arriving, he said.
And Rain, who would silently stand in the corner of her stall in Pennsylvania, has taken to walking into a pond on the Rhodes property and splashing around, said Cathy Rhodes, Amy's mother. "She goes in belly-deep and stomps and swishes her head around."
But the change in Amy has been the most significant, Cathy Rhodes said.
"I think it's doing Amy a world of good. She has something she really wants to do and needs to do. Physically and mentally, I think, it's a really good thing," she said.
Amy isn't strong enough to ride Rain yet, but they are working on special exercises to strengthen her muscles, her mother said.
Amy said she's just happy to have the horses, especially Rain.
"I don't think it matters where I would live, I think she would just be happy to be with me," Amy said.
cioffi@vindy.com