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COLFAX — He starts off sidesaddle, steadying his burly frame on the horse’s back. It takes a few tries, but Jeff Weathers has the motion down, swinging his leg over the horse’s head and getting comfortable in the saddle.

A few years ago, that simple motion was impossible.

The accident happened at 1:44 a.m. That’s what the police report says. Weathers doesn’t remember the 18-wheeler slamming into his squad car, leaving him with 11 broken ribs, a cracked skull, a ruptured spleen and permanent brain damage.

It was August 16, 2005. He had been on the police force in Kernersville 14 months.

First, he learned to talk and walk again. There are some things — such as feeling in one of his feet or memories from the accident — that he will never get back. But a lot of things have gotten easier.

During the past two summers, the animals at Horsepower summer camp have helped.

The program is a collaboration between Horsepower, a therapeutic riding program, and the communication sciences and disorders department at UNCG. The two-week camp brings together 10 graduate students and 10 adults with traumatic brain injuries in a place where one worker says he’s “seen miracles happen.”

“These are all people that are years past their injury,” Kristine Lundgren, a UNCG professor, says. “So people think, 'Oh, they’re not going to get any better.’ ”

That’s not the case.

When Brandy Gilliam was 17, her car was hit by a train. Last year at camp, she spent a lot of time sitting alone, answering questions with single, disjointed words.

Today, she has a new confidence. The leaders tailor their plans to each participant, and with Gilliam, they’ve centered on language development.

“The way I am with my words, I couldn’t do it,” Gilliam says.

The campers come from different age groups and backgrounds, but they all share stories of traumatic accidents. One was pushed out of a window as a child. Another was hit by a drunken driver. Others were hurt in car or motorcycle accidents.

At camp, lessons try to build back the cognitive and motor skills they lost.

“The more senses you involve, the deeper the learning gets in the brain and the longer it lasts,” says Perry Flynn, a therapeutic riding instructor and a camp organizer.

It’s an unconventional approach to therapy, Lorna Burns, one of the graduate students, says. “We’re used to doing therapy in a room with tables and chairs.”

Today, Flynn takes the group on a trail ride. He tells them to be aware of their senses — the smells, the sounds, the difference between the shade and sun.

There’s lots of talking, lots of encouragement.

“Jarred, I love how you’re keeping your eyes open, your head up,” Flynn says.

They stop to do stretches, spreading their arms out to the side and rotating at their waists.

“I remember a time, especially you, Jeff, when you were tipping off when you did this,” Flynn says.

But today, Weathers is confident on top of Dunbar, the horse he’s ridden for two years and come to trust. The hardest obstacle is gaining confidence, he says. After summer camp ends, he wants to continue lessons at Horsepower, where he will have more independence when he rides.

One day, Weathers hopes to return to school and earn a bachelor’s degree. Just to prove to others — and himself — that he can.

He’s come a long way from last summer, when he needed the help of three volunteers to mount Dunbar.

“Physically, it’s easier,” Weathers says. “But mentally, it’s a whole lot easier too, because you trust yourself.”

Contact Tricia Nadolny at 373-7028 or tricia.nadolny@news-record.com.