AnnDee Mayers

Adaptive Rider

When you meet AnnDee Mayers, you’ll first notice her amazing smile. Her indomitable strength, courage, and spirit are obvious the more you talk with her.

AnnDee started her Little Bit journey 20 years ago as a volunteer. “We were at the old barn, with a much smaller footprint. I literally lost it crying when I first found Little Bit, I was so happy.”

“I think it was the development director at the time, who came out of her office and said, ‘We’re just going to put on you a horse’. That day it happened. It was awesome! Jessica was my instructor and she put me on this 17-hand horse named Raffi,” said AnnDee. Her bond with Raffi was formed during that first ride.

“One time I hurt my back and my physical therapist asked me, ‘What’s the one thing that you want to do? What do you want to get back to?’ And I said, I want to ride.”

She said, “Then we’ll get you there.”

AnnDee recalled that when she got on Raffi’s back, it just cradled her. She felt comfort there that had eluded her on other horses. Her relationship with Raffi was different from the start.

AnnDee’s multiple sclerosis was diagnosed 18 years before she started riding at Little Bit. Once she received the diagnosis, she went to work. She called up the local chapter of the MS Society and said that she had just been diagnosed and wanted to serve on their Board of Directors. She served on the Board and then the Advisory Council.

“When I first pulled into the parking lot at Little Bit, the old barn had windows that opened on both sides—to the inside and the outside. When I drove up and got out of my car, Raffi’s head was sticking out, looking to the parking lot. I told him, ‘Hello, handsome’, and walked over to see that he was huge, which I’ve always loved because when I started riding at two-and-a-half, they were ALL big!”

The 17-hands high horse didn’t bother AnnDee in the least little bit, AnnDee recalled.

If you ask AnnDee, people or horses? She says, “Probably horses. I mean, I would, if you said dogs or people, I would say dogs.”

What is so special to you about Little Bit celebrating our 50th anniversary? “Well, I know that Little Bit was started by a woman who had MS. And she felt better when she rode. So, I feel the same way. I just want to see this place continue forever at the same high level it's become.”

“Because my MS is progressive, I see firsthand what I have lost. I can't post any more, I can't trot anymore. I can't. . . There's a lot of, I can't do any more. So that's been hard. . . Staring me in the face. The brick wall that I can't. . .  Here I can do it, but. . .  the body isn't cooperating. I'm still here and doing what I can. It is frustrating what I've lost. In the process of normal aging, you lose stuff that is just a part of the normal aging process. But it's different when you have MS, you know? I don't feel like I am physically aging as much as the MS is progressing. I can't separate the two. I tend to blame everything on my MS,” AnnDee admitted.

One of her neurologists told AnnDee, "You can't do that."

"Yes, I can," I told him. “I don't feel that I would be handicapped if it weren't for my MS. I would be hiking; I would be doing all the same stuff I used to do. The one thing that MS gave me was Little Bit. It's true.”

AnnDee was exposed to horses at an early age. She remembers that she grew up with a babysitter who had horses, so she would go to the barn with her as a toddler. “She would hold me between the reins. And at five they put me on a horse that needed exercise in the barn. So, I rode and picked apples off the trees and rode through streams.”

She said, “I did have relapsing-remitting MS at the beginning. With this type, you have flare-ups of the disease, or relapses. I powerlifted three days a week, three years into my diagnosis. And it was like I didn't even know I had MS, because nothing stopped me at the beginning.”

Have horses been a life-long love for AnnDee? “I leased a horse with my best friend in junior high, then you get into high school and there're boys, cheerleading, skiing, and so many other interests. Horses went by the wayside, so I was thrilled to find Little Bit,” said AnnDee.

“When I was diagnosed, my neurologist said, ‘There're a couple things you can't do anymore’. And one was skydiving. The other was downhill skiing. It was never a passion, so I was like, yeah, okay, I can stop. And the third thing was no horses. No horseback riding. So, I listened to him—until I didn't,” chuckled AnnDee.

“And just when I pulled into the parking lot on my first day at Little Bit, my husband called me as I was getting out of the car and he said, ‘You okay?’ Well, this is after I got out of the car. I saw Raffi with his head out and I told my husband, Are you kidding? I'm in my element. There are horses and the smell of hay and all of it.”

 Find more 50th anniversary stories HERE.