CASTALIA, Ohio — Joyce Moyer and her husband Terrance breed, raise and show Tennessee Walking Horses at Maple Crest Horse Farm in Sandusky County and are two of the top six certified trainers in Ohio.
The two started the farm in 1988, and their children are the fifth generation on family land, said Joyce, who herself was born just across the street from the farm's location at 7009 Maple Ave. in Castalia.
"We want them to grow up to be healthy people in the community and anything that we can do to help, we are right there willing to do," Joyce said of her family.
One way the Moyers do that is through horse rides for people with disabilities.
"It's an overwhelming privilege to have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives," Joyce said.
Tennessee Walking horses don't trot, rather, they have a smooth gait that closely simulates that of humans allowing them to connect with people like Lance Pratt.
"Sky is my very best friend and he helps me relax," Pratt said of a horse he rides. "He helps me calm and relax and I help him to do the same. We have a special bond."
Cheryl Pratt, Lance's mother, says her son has autism and deals with a lot of anxiety, which horses help him handle.
"Lance is on no anxiety medication anymore," she said. "And there are other adults here, same, like Lance, and they, same way. Their (the horses) calmness, they're just so different they're such a blessing to children like this and adults like this and people in general."
Pratt says his horse is always dependable to keep him balanced.
"He is my best friend and he's always been there for me and I've always been there for him," he said.
Allie Deck, a trainer at the farm, helped accustom Lance and Sky to one another.
"I've helped Lance start to finish with his riding. He doesn't need me anymore. he's doing great and it's just been amazing watching him and his horse Sky," Deck said.
Cheryl Pratt says seeing her son have the opportunity to ride horses warms her heart.
"It's priceless, it is, it's priceless. We'd have him, if he could, he'd live out here and he's his happiest at Maple Crest Farms. He really is, he's his calmest. He's a different kid out here," she said.
The Moyer family says they give hundreds of horse rides every year to people.
Joyce and Terrance Moyer are both lifetime members of the Tennessee Walking Horse Association and the National Walking Horse Association and have traveled the world teaching people to ride Tennessee Walking horses.