Ten therapy horses died in a barn fire at Vail Meadow Equestrian Center. The parents of 11-year-old Zane said horse therapy was one of the only things their severely autistic son liked.
"Not that I was negative towards it, but I just know my son and at first I was nervous like 'oh, if he doesn't like this..' but he enjoyed it and it was awesome," said Heather Breed, Zane's mom.
Her reservations were calmed when she saw how much Zane liked the big animals.
Breed was shocked to hear of the tragic barn fire this morning.
"I was just very, very upset. Like I said my son very much enjoyed it," Breed said. "Vail Meadows has done, to me, very well for my son."
Vail Meadows gave Zane and his dad a special time to bond.
"It was something that I got to do with Zane," said Justice Scott, Zane's dad. "It really strengthened our relationship. It was something that we got to look forward to as a father and son."
Zane was paired up with a horse named Tramp. His parents said it was a perfect match.
"The biggest one," Breed said. "My son is large and the horse was large. The funniest part was getting him to get up on the platform to get him on the horse."
Once up on the horse, the therapy lasted an hour. Zane's dad watched him work a lot on hand-eye coordination and speech therapy.
"The poles sticking out of the ground, he would have to pick a color of a ring and put it on there. Or they would have to go in and out of barrels," Scott said.
Zane's parents said that most people don't understand just how many children and families these horses helped.
"Especially seeing all of the kids faces react to just being there, to just walk into the building," Scott said. "He knew where to get his helmet and where to go to wait."
An account at the First Federal Bank at 3426 Navarre Avenue in Oregon is set up to except donations for Vail Meadows Equestrian Center.
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