As the last of the walk-trot riders filtered out of the historic Parker Ring at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show on June 7 and the next group filed in, the parade of tidy show clothes and freshly clipped horses with tight, neat braids, made the riders coming and going virtually indiscernible from each other.

But when the announcer picked up his microphone once again, a richer story was presented: one of perseverance and achievement, about how the power of horses can transcend physical impairments. The riders were participating in a therapeutic riding demonstration, showcasing five local therapeutic centers that had transformed their lives.

For one of those riders, Olivia Enos, it wasn’t the first time showing at the country’s oldest horse show. Eleven years ago, Enos participated in the leadline class aboard a pony called Cowboy, and though she didn’t place, her story was shared over the loudspeaker. Enos returned the following year and finished eighth.

Since then, Enos has grown from the 4-year-old who began attending the Sprout Therapeutic Riding and Education Center in Aldie, Virginia, hoping equine therapy could help her recover from a craniotomy to remove a portion of a brain tumor, to riding independently. Now 15, Enos is a member of Sprout’s Interscholastic Equestrian Association team and vice president of Sprout’s 4-H club. She earned a varsity letter for volunteering this year.

“She has always been the kid that really wanted to be with horses and really wanted to learn,” said Brooke Waldron, executive director and founder of Sprout. “She’s worked really hard over the years to not only regain what she had lost, but to become stronger than she was before that.”

The idea that disabilities don’t have to be limiting, and that equine therapy can help people like Enos achieve great things, is part of what prompted Waldron to found Sprout in 2010. Inspired by her uncle, Richard Bacas, who was paralyzed by polio as a child, Waldron built a facility aimed at giving others the opportunities that he could’ve used throughout his life.

“What we wanted to promote in one another is to understand that, yes, no life is perfect, but to push ourselves to be beyond what kind of is the norm,” said Waldron. “So to be able to show at Upperville, where you have the greats of the horse world, and be also cheered for equally, is really big for Sprout.”

The plan for getting Enos back in the Parker Ring began when the horse show’s executive director, Emily Day, and board member Leslie Kopp reached out to them about doing a demonstration at the 172th edition of show alongside representatives from Cloverleaf Equine Center, Loudoun Therapeutic Riding, Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center and Wheatland Farm.

“It took a nanosecond for [Waldron] to say an enthusiastic yes, Sprout would be thrilled to participate,” said Nancy Davidson, Sprout’s program coordinator.

Sprout’s leadership selected the center’s two IEA team members, Enos and Savannah Cregger, to participate in the demonstration. Like Enos, Cregger is a member of the Sprout IEA team and is a 4-H participant, and she’s earned a Presidential Service Award and Ariat Champions Award from the EQUUS Foundation for her volunteer work. Cregger initially came to Sprout to participate in the center’s physical therapy department following a traumatic brain injury. With the help of Sprout’s horses, Cregger relearned how to walk and talk again before graduating to the adaptive riding program.

The entire Sprout village came together to make sure both girls were well-prepared for their Upperville demonstration, said Amy Perez, the center’s outreach coordinator. Enos and Cregger took extra lessons in the weeks leading up to the show, and the barn staff and volunteers went over every inch of the horses to make sure they glowed. Enos rode Dior, a Swedish Warmblood who previously showed as a jumper up and down the East Coast, while Cregger rode Pepper, a Quarter Horse who had been an eventer prior to coming to Sprout.

“Our goal is to make sure that our riders can do everything that everyone else does to the best of their ability,” Perez said. “We don’t want to put them in a box and make them feel that they can’t do something because they have a traumatic brain injury, or they have anxiety, or they have autism. If they’re able to ride and able to do what everyone else does, it’s a huge boost for them. It really is. It helps them feel mainstream, and that’s the goal.”

For their part of the exhibition, the Sprout riders demonstrated a rising trot down the long side in front of the main grandstand—a huge accomplishment given where they’d started. After the judge came out and spoke to each rider about what he saw in their riding and then presented each with a blue ribbon.

“Some people search their whole lives for something they love and are able to accomplish,” Enos said. “I found my thing at Sprout. For as long as I can remember, Sprout has been my happy place. They have encouraged me to follow my dreams and have given me so many amazing opportunities.”