Injured Girl Reunited With Her Pony

Bay City News

A Martinez teenager who was in a coma for 14 months after suffering a brain injury in a horseback riding accident was reunited today with the Shetland pony she cared for as a child.

Allison Angove, 18, cared for Blackie when she was about 12 years old. Her mother said she hopes the miniature horse will help Angove heal as she prepares to come home from her care center in Walnut Creek at the end of the summer.

The Shetland pony was brought to Angove through the SonRise Equestrian Foundation, Executive Director Alana Koski said.

The foundation is a Danville-based nonprofit organization that arranges miniature horses to visit children who are terminally ill, autistic, at-risk, or recovering from injury to create a loving connection between the two, Koski said.

When Angove's mother contacted the organization to arrange a visit, they discovered Angove had previously cared for one of the horses, she said.

Angove was comatose until May 2010 after she suffered injuries during a warm-up for a show jumping event in Fresno in 2009, family friend Jackie Mann said.

She was 16 years old when her horse Skylar slipped and fell, throwing Angove off. Although she was wearing a helmet, she suffered serious brain trauma, Mann said.   

"I saw she had cleared the jump. I went to take a picture. When I looked up, the horse had thrown her and she was on the ground," Allison's mother Terri Angove said.          

Since the accident Angove has been in care centers, but she has made significant progress. She started talking in February and she is relearning how to write, she said.

Angove, who now has use of her right hand and arm, welcomed Blackie with a tender pat and called his name. Although Mann said she was feeling overwhelmed, Angove was able to sound to Blackie to come forward and hold his halter.          

Blackie has worked with the SonRise Equestrian Foundation for the past four years, nuzzling children in hospice at their bedsides and engaging in gentle horseplay, she said.          

"For many, he's the last thing to do before they die," Koski said.          

Before his career at the foundation, the 14-year-old Shetland ponywas privately owned, where he met Angove in 2003.

When Blackie's original owner moved to Switzerland, she decided to donate him to the SonRise Equestrian Foundation.          

"She knew he loved working with kids," Koski said.

The 36-inch tall horse may be small, but the amount of joy he brings to the children is immeasurable, she said.

"He's super calm and very sweet," Koski said. "He knows exactly what to do to bring a smile to their faces."

Angove is scheduled to leave the care center for rehabilitation therapy July 6 before returning home as early as August, Terri Angove said.

Despite setbacks Angove has faced, like a meningitis infection following a surgery, her mother is confident she will recover.

"The brain can relearn and Allison's might need to find a different way of doing it," Terri Angove said. "But she's more stabilized and strong. She'll make it."          

Those who would like to contribute to Angove's medical expenses can visit, www.teamallisonfund.org, starting Friday. The money donated will directly benefit a special needs trust in her name.

"So many people hear about brain injuries, that the recovery process is such a long process. It is," Mann said.  "The family needs support and help for all of those years."