Champion rider starts equine-assisted therapy program

Shelby Combs had her first equine experience when she was just 2 and a family friend hoisted her up onto the back of a horse. That’s when her passion for the animals was sparked; a year later, she got her first pony, a small, tan beauty named Cinderella. The two were inseparable and together won many riding awards.

Combs, now 24, used her years of experience in the competition circuit to open More Leg LLC, which offers horseback-riding lessons, as well as an equine-assisted therapy program for people with cognitive, physical and emotional disabilities.

More Leg opened last year on five acres off Avalon Road between Winter Garden and Horizon West. Combs has four horses in her stables: Sullivan, 12, who has been with her the longest; 15-year-old Whiskey and 13-year-old Story, the two therapy horses; and Sky, the 14-year-old mare. Frequently seen trotting around is a 15-year-old donkey named Lenny (Leonard when he’s causing trouble) that acts as the protector of the property.

“We live, breathe and work horses here,” Combs said of her home and stables, which share the property. “We do equine-assisted therapy with people with a range of special abilities.

Our mission with those individuals is similar to that with regular (clients) — helping individuals finding their sense of independence working with horses, whether that be finding their voice, physical milestones or emotional progress.”

Combs meets with the families and lays out a 12-week program, and she lets them decide if they want to leave early or participate beyond the three months. The client’s voice is at the forefront of the sessions.

More than a dozen clients have gone through the therapy program since it started; currently, there are six.

“I’d like to see that number grow,” Combs said. “There’s always room for more.”

WORKING WITH JULIA

The Tait family is grateful for Combs and the results of their daughter’s ongoing sessions. Julia was 5 and nonverbal when she entered the therapy program three years ago. She had frequent outbursts of emotion and insisted on taking her stuffed Dopey doll everywhere she went.

Through Combs’ patience in working with Julia, slowing making changes in her routines and encouraging her to accept and follow directions, Julia began to talk.

“We blame it all on the horse,” Combs said. “I’m a tough-love cheerleader, but I think the horse is the biggest tool, because without him, she would have no incentive to talk.

Julia rides Whiskey and loves to trot. At her fourth or fifth lesson, she spoke her first words — to Whiskey: “Kick kick kick.” That was followed by “mama,” “dada” and “Pascal,” her dog.

“Her mother and I just bawled when we heard her (talk),” Combs said. “They had been trying to get her to talk for five years.”

Laura Tait recalls passing the sign for More Leg LLC while the family was driving around during the pandemic shutdown. They were looking for an outlet for their daughter and found a guardian angel in Combs.

“At that time, Julia was pretty much nonverbal; it was very difficult, we were struggling, we had her in special education classes and therapy … but we were just stuck,” Tait said. “The communication between us and our daughter was difficult. She didn’t understand us, we didn’t understand her.”

During the lessons, she saw her daughter’s improvements.

“She had to try to listen to Shelby,” Tait said. “What I like most about Shelby is she brought out Julia’s voice. They would play games on the horse, and she would have choices, and she would have to make a choice. Julia, at the beginning, would have these outbursts … for whatever reason, I think Shelby’s unbridled passion for horses, for kids on the spectrum and special needs, it resonated with Julia, and she knew it was a safe space for her to express her emotions.

She got on her level and wanted to communicate with her.”

After a few lessons, Julia started making sounds — and now she can have almost full conversations with you, Tait said.

“The benefits just keep coming,” she said. “It’s such a joy to see your child come into her own. She is able to listen and participate. I think equine therapy is good for kids on the spectrum, the routine of it. She knows where the buckets are, she knows Shelby is going to ask her to put her helmet on.

“She’s caused Julia to come out of her shell, and now she’s like a social butterfly,” Tait said. “Animals are just naturally therapeutic.”

Dopey has been put away. Julia found her confidence and doesn’t need him anymore, Combs said.

COMES WITH EXPERIENCE

Combs started competing in 2004 in the hunters and equitation categories at Clarcona Horseman’s Park and Grand Cypress Equestrian Center, later added the jumper division, and continued until she was 14. When she was 7, she participated in equestrian trail challenges at Lake Louisa Park and won, beating out both children and adults.

“I really had no clue what I was doing,” she said. “I was just out there having a good time.”

She rode Cinderella in most of her competitions, and even trotted down Plant Street on Cinderella’s back for several Winter Garden Christmas Parades.

As she gained experience, she earned many more trophies and ribbons. Her grandmother, Barbara Fulmer, sewed many of those ribbons into a quilt upon Combs’ graduation from high school.

WHY ‘MORE LEG’?

Combs explained the unusual name for her business.

“When I was a competitor myself many, many years ago, before my injuries, I was at a horse show that we followed locally, and I was schooling my horse — just practice, basically — before the show, and a trainer that was standing on the sidelines, that I did not know, thought I needed to add more leg to executive better,” she said. “He started yelling at me in a Peruvian accent: ‘More leg, more leg.’ I was wearing a Winter Garden Little League jersey, and he was hollering my number. He became my favorite trainer that I worked with.

“He went back to God in 2018 while riding a horse, doing what he loves,” she said. “Isn’t that appropriate?”