Horsewoman
of Substance: Teeka Leone
By
Elizabeth Hughes
Teeka
Leone knows how to triumph – in her
equestrian pursuits, in her corporate career, and in her personal life.
As
a competitor on the Arabian Horse Show circuit, Leone and her stallion Spanish
Music (sired by Sidi Brahim, imported from Spain) consistently score in the
high 90s out of a possible 100 points in Competitive Trail. Spanish Music and
Leone also count among their accomplishments Scottsdale Top 10 in halter in
1994, parade appearances in Native Arabian Costume with the Arabian Horse
Association of Arizona’s Amateur Club, and work with disabled children. Leone
has long balanced her commitment to her horses with a powerful career as a Senior
Network Engineer for General Dynamics. This balance was challenged during
the summer of 2007 when Leone’s beloved 18 year old daughter Johanna died in a
car crash.
Grief-stricken,
but not defeated, Leone strengthened her resolve to reach out to disabled
children through equestrian therapeutics by way of The Merry-Go-Round, the
nonprofit organization that she organized to do so. In Jan. 2008,
Leone:
I began riding when I was three. My older sister had a horse in the backyard
when I was born. I received my very own pony at age seven as a First Holy
Communion gift from my grandfather. He traded a shotgun for her at the
Leone:
I currently have nine horses of my own at home (Four are my Spanish Music's
offspring). I spend about an hour each morning before work, a couple of hours
each evening after work, and as much time as I possibly can on the weekends.
Either grooming, riding, training, showing or competing with them in some form.
Leone:
I do have a 40 hour per week job which I love. There are times that I have to
finish a project deadline and will work from home after hours, but luckily that
is not the case too often since my horses and my son need me too.
Leone:
Personally, spending time with horses and horse people is my happy place; my
sanity. I usually find answers to problems while sitting on the back of a horse
riding through the desert. It’s quiet, rhythmic, and peaceful. The day and
the problems fall away and I can then see things in perspective and more
clearly. That's why therapeutic riding is becoming so popular. It works!
It heals troubled hearts and minds and broken bodies.
Horses
listen. They don't talk back and they love unconditionally. If they
understand what you are asking of them, they will always comply. I'll
probably get in trouble for this one, but especially Arabs. In my opinion, they
are smarter and more sensitive than other breeds, and I've worked with many.
That is the reason we only used Arabians and 1/2 Arabs in our therapeutic
riding center, except for our mascot who is a miniature horse named Merlin.
(see
http://www.themerrygoround.org)
I
do try to bring that into the workplace in the project management arena. Listening and truly trying to understand
where the other person's viewpoint is coming from allows you to more readily
offer a resolution to whatever the problem is at hand. Humans are complicated
and sometimes what they are saying is masking what the real underlying issue
is. You have to be a keen listener and read between the lines. I learned that
from working with horses. They can't communicate in our language so you have to
be in tune with their body language and read them.
Leone:
My best friend Lynn Waters and I were talking about what our dreams were
one day while mucking stalls…We were quite surprised when be both realized
we wanted the same thing; to open a therapeutic riding center! The
brainstorming started in 2001 and hasn't stopped yet. We researched the idea
through NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association), attended
some workshops, and opened a NARHA member center called, "The Merry Go Round".
We were instantly and wildly successful. We soon realized that our
facility was too small to accommodate the vast need for this type of service
and we were turning people (mostly children) away. I sold my small 1 1/4 acre
ranch in Queen Creek and bought 20 acres in Eloy. I
was planning on building a very large facility there. Unfortunately, I was hurt
in an accident where I almost lost my leg and everything had to be put on hold
for a couple of years while I struggled with 4 surgeries and months of physical
therapy.
The
freedom you feel while on the back of a horse when your own limbs can't or
won't carry you is empowering. Not to mention the bonds these riders form with
their instructors, the volunteers and their beloved horses. I still don't
understand how a child's smile can be bigger than his or her face but it
happens all of the time in our program!
Leone:
(My daughter) was an honors student through high school, attended
If
it weren’t for these horses, I don’t know if I would have made it through last
year. They are my strength.
Elizabeth Hughes
Editor
(480) 991-9057
15855 N.
Greenway-Hayden