Do horses keep you walking? They do Bryan Jones.

Bryan Jones competed with Leroy in the freestyle reining at the 2009 Region Two Experience. His elk hide warrior regalia is Sioux made. (Christine Hamilton)

From Jamestown, North Dakota, (“up in the tundra,” as Bryan says), Bryan shows his 2003 stallion Nu Chex Nics, aka “Leroy,” in reining and working cow horse. This year’s Region Two Experience is his third to show in.

But when Bryan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 18 years ago, his doctor said he’d never sit in a saddle again. It ended his work as a farrier and horse trainer and put him in a wheelchair.

“The doctor told me pretty much that I wasn’t going to get out of the chair,” Bryan recalled. “He probably didn’t like my response. I said, ‘You’re wrong; I’m going to do it.’

“It was a desire for the horses and to get back on, otherwise I’d have never been able to get out of that thing.”

Everything changed for Bryan, his wife, Gloria, and their four children. For Bryan, “it was like being in jail.” The house wasn’t wheelchair accessible, and he couldn’t get out.

“I sat in there for about eight months, and then I managed to get up and walk around some,” Bryan said. “And then I could at least get out and look at (the horses). It took close to a year before I could get on one again.

“Oh, man. It never felt so good, after being away so long. It felt terrific.”

He’s defied the odds ever since. In spring of 2008, Bryan faced cancer, and his treatment options were limited by his MS. He fought for the strength to show.

Now cancer free, his goal then was to get Leroy qualified for the 2009 AQHA World Championship Show in reining. And that’s where he’s headed in November; Kevin Vesey will show Leroy in senior reining.

Bryan walks with a cane and a knee brace. When he mounts Leroy, he leaves both behind.

“I can’t ride as smooth as I used to because with the MS you have to kind of tell your body where it’s supposed to be,” Bryan explained. “Riding is great for your muscles and your balance.

“One of the best MS doctors in the country I went to, he asked me what my hobbies were, and I told him. He said, ‘Keep riding, it’s the best therapy I could give you. It works all the muscles without overworking you and getting you too tired.’”

Bryan credits his family, his great-minded horse and his horse show friends for helping him make it, year after year. Through his cancer, friends “babysat him” and made sure he ate and rested so he could keep going.

“It’s been terrific,” he said, referring to the support he’s gotten from his horse show friends. “It’s a huge family over several places. They’re good people, that’s all there is to it. There’s nothing better to be around. Other than a horse, naturally.”

Bryan said that he’s always worked to have a positive attitude no matter what.

“It might take a little while, but you just find the right angle, the right perspective,” he said. “Even if it’s just one thing, there’s going to be something good coming out of it. So I just prefer to keep a positive attitude all the time. Can’t afford not to. I’m bound and determined.”

He smiled and added: “If I can keep riding until I’m 100 years old, I’m planning on doing it.”

Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

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