ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — It was a match made in heaven … literally.

And Dr. Cindy Brasfield had no idea when she picked up “Top Notch,” a 3-year-old bay mustang, in Piney Woods, Miss. on July 16, the journey she was about to embark on, or the plans God had for the both of them.

Brasfield had 100 days to train Top Notch, captured wild in Oregon from the Bureau of Land Management’s herding area, and get him ready for the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s Extreme Mustang Makeover event, held on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro in October.

During that time, Brasfield, who lives in Robertsdale and works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, used “natural horsemanship” techniques to tame him and taught him many different tasks to accomplish during the freestyle portion of the competition, just to impress the crowd — or so she thought.

Some of the tasks included: pulling a cart or any other object tied to or dragged behind him, crawling under his belly and squeezing through his front and between his back legs, allowing the bridle to be put on and off while kneeling or sitting on the ground, sidepass over to pick her up from any location where she was perched above his head (back of the cart, picnic tables), to send into his stall/trailer instead of being led in, to bow and lay down and be totally bombproof (Brasfield stood on his back and fired eight rounds of blanks from her .22-caliber pistol during the finals).

“I made as sure as I could nothing would scare this horse,” said Brasfield.

Top Notch placed fourth overall, and the day after the competition there was an auction where the mustangs could be adopted by the highest bidder. Brasfield, who had become very attached to Top Notch during the 100 days, had her sights set on taking him home.

As fate would have it, Brasfield won the bid for Top Notch but it wasn’t until she went to pay for him, she changed her mind about keeping him.

“At the payment desk, the cashier pointed out a lady standing next to a young man in a wheelchair. Theirs had been the competing bid and I was moved to tears. After meeting and talking to them, I found out they needed a horse that was steady, well-trained and calm enough to be used for hippotherapy (horse-aided therapy for people with neuromuscular difficulty),” said Brasfield.

In that very moment, Brasfield knew exactly what she was supposed to do and gave up her bid on Top Notch so Ritt Chitwood, the young man in the wheelchair, could have him.

“I thought I was only training the horse to do tricks but God had other plans for these behaviors. How perfect are these things for a therapy riding program in which a fearless young man will be able to do most all things with a horse that totally mobile riders can do. God had a huge hand in this. I know why he was the one loaded into my trailer and why God put it in my heart to train him the way I did,” explained Brasfield.

Chitwood, 25, a Nolansville, Tenn. resident, was in a car accident in 2006 that left him paralyzed from the chest down, and he sustained some traumatic brain injury. But the way he was introduced to Top Notch was nothing short of a miracle, according to his mom, Margie.

“I usually wake up at 6 a.m. and watch EWTN (Catholic Television Network) as I am eating breakfast, but this particular morning, I guess the cat or dog stepped on the remote because when I turned it on, a commercial for the Extreme Mustang Makeover came on and as I watched it, I remember saying, ‘That’s where Ritt’s horse will come from,’ and I knew I was supposed to be there. But I wasn’t sure why,” she said.

Taking a friend with her, Margie set out to the competition, not really knowing what to expect.

“I didn’t take Ritt with me the first day because he was taking a class and I didn’t want him to miss two days. I had no idea what I was doing, but was going to take some notes on the horses I saw. I knew God wanted me there so I was prepared to find out why.”

As she glanced at the program, Margie saw lots of different horses that just didn’t seem right, but when she got to Top Notch’s picture, she said “That’s him. Hallelujah.”

The next day, at the auction, with Ritt by her side, Margie sought the assistance of a woman to help her. She saw Top Notch and unsuccessfully bid on him.

“I had no idea how to bid on a horse and prayed for God to help me. I knew He was guiding me and I was able to bid on Top Notch,” Margie said.

When the auction was over and Margie found out she was outbid, she was ready to go, but recalls the woman who had helped her wanted to introduce her to Cindy.

“I couldn’t understand why she kept wanting me to meet Cindy. She said a couple of times, ‘Isn’t that the horse you wanted?,’ referring to Top Notch, but I thought to myself I didn’t win. Why would I want to meet the person who outbid me? I have no competitive bone in me. I was so confused,” Margie said.

But the confusion disappeared as soon as Cindy introduced herself and said, “‘This is the horse I trained for you,’” Margie said. “At that moment, I was in shock and was thanking God. This was incredible. If we had not met Cindy, we wouldn’t have Top Notch now.”

And because of this turn of events, Margie and Ritt, along with her older son, Bo, have a renewed sense of hope and encouragement for the future.

“I see this as a miracle, and know God put Cindy in our lives for this reason. We all came together to help Ritt and hopefully help others who have the same difficulties,” Margie said.

When Ritt first met Top Notch, it was like they had known each other for a lifetime, further confirming to the family that this was God’s plan.

“Because of all the unique things I taught Top Notch, Ritt was able to put a halter on him from his wheelchair and lead Top Notch out of the stall, down the barn aisles, return him to his stall and remove the halter with no assistance,” Brasfield said.

Because of the severity of his injuries, Ritt spent a year in four different hospitals and was in a coma for the first three-and-a-half months.

“Ritt was thrown out of the car and broke his back at the T (thoracic) 4-5 level, and had some brain damage as a result. The doctors didn’t give us much hope and weren’t very optimistic for his recovery, but I refused to believe it. I knew God saved him for a reason,” Margie said. “It was a very trying year and we had many difficulties but we made it through because of God’s strength and protection.”

While Ritt was in the hospital, Margie’s sister sent her some information about hippotherapy, and she remembers thinking, “I will do this for him (Ritt) so he can get better,” but the only problem was no one wanted to take Ritt as a client because of his size.

“He was 21 years old and over 200 lbs., and could not sit up on his own so nobody wanted to take the risk of him falling off the horse. The only place we found was Paradise Ranch, two-and-a-half hours away, in Springfield, Tenn. And we have really been blessed by the people there, and it has been a great experience for us, but I really wanted Ritt to have his own horse,” Margie said.

Years earlier, Margie had acquired a 40-acre farm with a really big stable, and wasn’t sure what to do with it since she was raised in Baltimore and not accustomed to any type of framework.

In fact, she had had a fear of horses since childhood, when she was kicked in the face by a horse. Her family had moved to the country when she was 10 years old.

“That kick left me with a broken jaw in two places and many stitches, so I wasn’t too fond of horses after that and really didn’t want to be around them at all. But that all changed when we met Top Notch,” explained Margie.

Now, Margie knew what she was supposed to do with the farm and after the auction, Brasfield spent some time with Margie and Ritt getting to know Top Notch. Margie quickly got over her fear, and was soon able to help Ritt get used to his new friend.

“That’s another example of God working by allowing me to get over my fear and be able to take care of Top Notch.”

But the miracle of Ritt and Top Notch getting together isn’t the end of the story. Brasfield wanted to do more for Ritt and came up with the idea of building him a cart fro him so he could be pulled behind Top Notch. She talked to some close friends about her idea and they were thrilled about it.  They knew people who built carts and contacted Russell and Waynetta Dyer, who own Dyer Buggy Works in Cocoa, Fla.

Within a few days, the Dyers were in contact with Brasfield about constructing a cart for Ritt, so he could ride along as Top Notch pulled him in his wheelchair. The only dilemma they faced was how to pay for building the cart.

“These carts, especially one to accommodate a wheelchair, can cost thousands of dollars and we knew we had to do some fundraising for it to happen,” Brasfield said.

Waynetta, who has been training horses for 30 years, and her husband, Russell, a NASA engineer, began constructing the custom cart in November, and are now in the final stages of completing the project.

“We just sent it to the shop to be painted black and it should be ready by the end of January. I took it for a test drive the other day and tried to work the bugs out of it before it’s delivered to Cindy,” said Waynetta.

At six feet wide, the steel cart will have motorcycle wheels and a ramp that is lever-operated, so Ritt can open it and roll into it. The wheels will lock into place and Ritt will be able to close the ramp with the lever as well. It also has hand brakes and a small bench seat so Ritt can have a passenger ride with him, Brasfiled said.

“This is the first time we have ever built a cart like this so it was a lot of trial and error trying to figure out how to get it just right. It was a challenge, but we are happy to be able to do something for Ritt. It’s these kind of challenges that bring us all together,” Waynetta said.

When the cart is delivered to Brasfield, she will begin training Top Notch to accept it, so when Ritt and Margie come down in the spring, Top Notch will already be comfortable pulling it with Ritt inside.

“This is such a great thing for Ritt. It will give him the freedom of riding independently, and hopefully give others who are in the same situation the inspiration and courage to do the same thing,” Brasfield said.

The plan is to get Ritt out and about to different events for the special needs population, and showcase what he and Top Notch can do.

“There is a driving clinic I want to take him to and also an equestrian event in February — The Dixie Nationals — in Jackson, Miss. that has a special needs segment I want Ritt to be a part of it, but not sure if we can get everything together by then.”

And even though the cart was paid for through donated funds of friends,  Brasfield said they still need donations for Top Notch’s feed and care for the next year, plus funds for Ritt’s hippotherapy sessions.

“Maybe in the future we can have some benefit trail rides or something to show what can be done with the cart,” Brasfield said. “We have a goal of $4,000, and so far have received about $1,300 from local friends through a fund created specifically for Top Notch, we need much more. We are so thankful for what we have gotten so far, and everyone has been so supportive of this effort. And any funds in excess of our goal for Ritt will go toward a trained horse and a specially designed cart for another wheelchair-bound person who needs and deserves the special bond and motivation for living that a horse creates in a human life.”

Now, four years after the accident, Ritt is doing really well, resuming his classes at MTSU and getting stronger every day, Margie said.

“He’s even regaining some hot and cold sensation in his chest. This whole journey has been very hard, but at the same time has been a total blessing because it brought our family closer together and allowed Bo and Ritt to form an even stronger bond with each other.

“In fact , the other day, Bo and Ritt were talking, and Ritt said ‘God wants me to be a miracle. That’s my purpose.’ God is with us and I see a happy ending now.” Margie said.

A Top Notch Facebook page has been set up, and a Top Notch fund has been established at United Bank in Silverhill. To make a donation, mail it to Top Notch Fund, 21860 County Road 48, Robertsdale, AL 36567, or contact Judy Green, bank manager, United Bank, at 251-945-1902 or 800-423-7026.