Oklahoma Reads: We Go in a Circle, Written and Illustrated by Peggy Perry Anderson

 

His real name is Indian Territory, but folks just call him Mr. T. He wears his leather and buckles proudly. His mane of dark hair is carefully combed. He used to go to the races, but he’s retired now. Just the same, he still goes in a circle as before. Mr. T is an appaloosa horse, and he lives at the All Star Therapy Ranch.

Dreaming of a Horse
You could say that meeting Mr. T was the fulfillment of Peggy Perry Anderson’s lifelong dream. Although Peggy is a busy mother of three who taught elementary school art and authored and illustrated several children’s books, she always longed to do one thing more—make a connection with a horse. When she heard about the All Star Therapy Ranch near her home in Owasso, Oklahoma, Anderson became a volunteer. Little did she know that Mr. T would become a star in one of her books.

A Hippotherapy Horse
“We Go in a Circle is Mr. T’s story,” says Anderson. Before his retirement, Mr. T was a pony horse—he accompanied and calmed jittery racehorses. Now the appaloosa exercises his influence as a hippotherapy* horse.

“People with many different kinds of disabilities benefit from horseback riding,” says Peggy. “The rocking motion of the horse relaxes muscles that are tight and strengthens muscles that are weak.” After three years of volunteering at the ranch, mostly as a sidewalker,* Anderson wrote We Go in a Circle in 45 minutes.

A 2005 Oklahoma Book Award finalist, We Go in a Circle features steady, gentle-eyed horses on each page. “I wrote and illustrated the book from Mr. T’s perspective in order to show that horses have emotions, too,” says Peggy.

Horses like Mr. T are irreplaceable. “Therapy’s been attempted with a machine that replicates the rocking motion of the horse,” says Anderson, “but of course it wasn’t the same.”

A Contented Horse
Anderson’s text is as reassuring as the steady clip-clop of a dependable steed. “I feel special and important,” thinks Mr. T, first as he wins the blue ribbon at the races, then, months later, as he gives a ride to a child who can’t walk.

“We go in a circle,” Mr. T notes as the racetrack unfurls under his feet. After his retirement, the circular motion slows as he walks around the barn with a blind rider on his back. A content Mr. T comments, “That’s just the way it is around here.”  

A Winners’ Circle
Wherever she is, Anderson makes a point of talking about her book. During author/illustrator visits at elementary schools, her audience is fascinated by the camaraderie between Mr. T and his bevy of riders.

“Those are kids, too,” observed a student who heard Anderson speak about Mr. T’s special riders. “They can do the things we can do.”

“You don’t have to win first prize to feel special,” another child said.

For those who wonder if volunteers also benefit, Anderson says, “The smallest act of kindness is a tremendous reward.” Such wisdom proves that kindness, like Mr. T, goes in a circle.  

* Glossary of Terms
Hippotherapy: A therapist-authorized treatment that uses a horse’s movement to improve neuromuscular function.Posting: Rising up and down in the saddle in rhythm with the horse’s gait.
Dysfunction of Sensory Integration (DSI): The inability of the brain to process sensory stimuli.
Sidewalker: A walker who makes sure the horseback rider is balanced.
Therapeutic horseback riding: The teaching of riding skills to attain therapeutic goals.

Lori Williams is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about international adoption and the special needs child. Lori resides in Bethany with her husband Dean and daughter Aurelia.