Thanks to her time riding, learning, growing and healing at Banbury Cross Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Metamora Township, Courtney Hulit is conquering her fears and medical condition. She’s now back in the saddle again both metaphorically and literally.

“It has opened my world in ways I can never explain,” said the 20-year-old Orion Township resident.

Hulit will be honored as this year’s Star Student Rider at Banbury’s 29th Annual Derby Day Celebration fund-raiser on May 4.

The event typically draws between 200 and 300 stylishly-dressed ladies and dapperly-attired gentlemen who come to  watch the Kentucky Derby on a big screen and donate to the equestrian center.

Banbury Cross Executive Director Jessica Moore said Hulit’s story “speaks volumes” about how therapeutic riding can help people overcome physical and psychological challenges.

“Once she got to know and trust our staff and our volunteers . . . she just flourished,” Moore said. “She’s now a very independent rider.”

Founded in 1991 and located at 1223 Brauer Rd., Banbury Cross uses therapeutic horseback riding to help students with special needs improve physically, cognitively, emotionally, spiritually, educationally and socially. The nonprofit organization frequently works with special education students from the Oxford and Lake Orion school districts.

Hulit has been riding at Banbury Cross since January 2017. It’s a way to help deal with her functional neurological disorder (FND), a medical condition in which there is a problem with the functioning of the nervous system and how the brain and body send and/or receive signals, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

“My brain and body are constantly fighting each other,” she said.

FND causes Hulit to have psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). On the surface, these episodes can look like epileptic seizures, but they are not caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. It’s believed their origin is an underlying psychological issue, such as the aftereffects of a traumatic experience.

She also experiences myoclonic jerks – the sudden, involuntary jerking of a muscle or muscle group – and “jerk attacks” during which Hulit said she’s “completely aware of (her) surroundings,” but has “no control over (her) body.”

An inability to speak at times is another FND symptom Hulit experiences.

Unrelated to her FND, Hulit wears hearing aids. She has 75 percent hearing loss in her left ear and 70 percent loss in her right one. The impairment is the result of surgeries she underwent to repair a cleft palate.

Hulit began suffering from FND in 2015 after she was thrown from a horse and dragged by it while living in South Carolina.

Trauma from the event coupled with her disorder caused her to withdraw from the world.

“I would keep to myself,” Hulit said. “I didn’t like anyone touching me. I was very fearful of others.”

Although her mind was filled with thoughts, she said she “couldn’t get them to come out” verbally.

“I was trapped in my own body,” Hulit said.

Interacting with the staff, volunteers and horses at Banbury Cross helped change that. But, it didn’t happen overnight. Her progress was slow at first.

“It took me about four weeks to even talk to my instructor and talk to my volunteers,” said Hulit, who added she started talking to Banbury’s horses before the people.

As time went on, those chats with horses turned into connections with humans, which helped Hulit rebuild her confidence “both in the saddle and on the ground,” and taught her that it’s OK “to open up to people” instead of fearing them.

She said Banbury’s staff and volunteers are always understanding and encouraging.

“They’re not going to tell you that you can’t do something,” Hulit said.

Hulit is now able to converse with people and is much more comfortable in social settings.

“It’s been really nice to watch her come out of her shell and really regain her independence,” Moore said.

“She has come a very, very long way,” said Hulit’s mother, Tawnya. “I got my daughter back.”

Moore said Hulit is now “always the first (one) to check on others” at the farm, whether it’s volunteers, fellow riders or horses.

“She’s very empathetic,” Moore said. “She’s got the biggest heart.”

Riding at Banbury Cross has greatly reduced the number and frequency of Hulit’s PNES episodes. Tawnya said her daughter used to have “up to 30 episodes” in one day “at her worst.”

“Now, she has them maybe once or twice a week,” Tawnya said. “The episodes just kept going down.”

Hulit noted she also doesn’t “jerk as often” and when she does feel one of these involuntary movements coming on, she’s better able to “control” it and minimize the effects.

Such improvements helped Hulit regain her driver’s license last month. She had previously lost that privilege because of the FND.

“If it wasn’t for Banbury, I don’t think I would be driving again,” Hulit said.

Tawnya said her daughter is “now doing all the things that they told her she couldn’t do.”

“Any time somebody tries to tell her that she can’t do something, she is so determined to prove them wrong,” she said.

Hulit said riding horses makes her “feel free,” which nourishes the inner strength she draws upon to face challenges and overcome obstacles. When she’s riding at Banbury Cross, she’s not thinking about doctors, medications or people telling her she can’t do something.

“I love how you don’t have to worry about anything on top of a horse,” Hulit said.

Her favorite horses at Banbury are Waco and Felicia.

The center has a total of 13 horses and caring for them costs over $30,000 annually.

Hulit hopes to one day train therapy horses. To achieve that goal, she’s taking classes through the North Carolina-based Animal Behavior Institute.

Tawnya is grateful to Banbury for everything it has done for her daughter.

“Honestly, words cannot express how I feel about Banbury and about the people there,” she said. “Banbury has been so supportive of her. They accepted her for who she was when she was sick and they’re still by her side (as) she’s getting better . . . This organization should be commended for what they do.”

Tickets for the Derby Day Celebration are still available. The starting price is $125 each.

The event includes dinner, cocktails, live and silent auctions, a plant sale, a raffle and a chance to wager on the Kentucky Derby.

For more information, call (248) 628-7433 or visit www.banburycrosstec.org.