The amiable quarter horse, a swirl of black and white, began plodding listlessly in an Alexandria indoor arena, oblivious to the sheer joy it had afforded the 17-year-old rider. Nudging the animal and minding the beanbags - designed to keep his heels down in the stirrups - he looked up and grinned.

Josh Nestheide, 17, of Highland Heights, rides a horse named "Rocky" at Milestones, Inc. Therapeutic Equestrian Program in Alexandria. (Enquirer photo/PATRICK REDDY)

For Josh Nestheide, the little things are always big. Born with Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation, he has normal physical development but thinks like a 5- or 6-year-old.

And no one, not his instructors or his mother, Jeannie, anticipated that the boy too shy to speak his name to strangers five years ago would dazzle crowds at the Special Olympics Kentucky State Equestrian Competition at Kentucky Horse Park Oct. 10.

There the Campbell County sophomore pocketed two gold medals for the first time at one competition. Weekly visits to Milestones Inc. Therapeutic Equestrian Achievement Program, tucked on a cozy farm on Lower Tug Fork Road, were part of the success.

"The first time he came here, he played a game where he'd have to take a ball, say his name and pass it on," Nestheide said. "He would look down and not say anything. He was like that here for almost two years."

Mary Lunn, Milestones program director and an occupational therapist, said Josh hid his face. He tucked his chin to his chest. And sometimes, he just cried.

Lunn and instructors slowly integrated Josh into the Milestones program to learn horsemanship. He studied balancing, sequencing, following directions, grooming and tacking his horse.

"It's not just riding here, because with our kids attention is a difficult thing. So we try to put a lot of things into games," Lunn said.

Thursday afternoon, Josh worked on handling reins. He honed balance by placing objects in barrels around the arena. He guided Rocky to music, both fast and slow.

He concentrated as he went. Twice he has fallen off a horse, alarming his father, Tom.

Trish Kremer, his Milestones instructor, said that acquired patience and "being less jittery" was crucial in his Special Olympics routine-based competitions, Dressage Test I and Working Trails English Tack.

Five years after refusing to utter his name, his mother said, he preened before an audience while accepting medals at Kentucky Horse Park.

"He's much more outgoing," Lunn agreed. "He's talking to people in the arena, sometimes too much. Sometimes we have to tell him to pay attention. Two or three years ago, we don't think he'd have shared like that."

Josh, who's also active in basketball, soccer, softball and swimming, had four words to explain the transformation.

"I like winning medals."

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E-mail srussell@enquirer.com