Scientists and researches have long recognized that the bond between human and animal can provide a much needed psychological assistance to people with disabling diseases and injuries.

A specialized lift meant to help physically challenged children experience the joy of horse riding is being developed by helpful students of engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Keith Priest, 35, has always wanted to ride a horse. Cerebral palsy and autism have made it difficult.

Even getting in a saddle is hard. It would take several people to lift his 205-pound frame onto a horse’s back.

Engineering students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are working on a solution, designing and constructing a mechanical lift to get disabled riders into the saddle with as few as two people helping.

“We’re trying to ease the way for these people,” engineering student Ricky Thompson said.

Judy Mullin, Mr. Priest’s mother, called several stables that offer riding experiences to the disabled, but none would allow her son to ride because of his degree of disability, she said. However, the Hixson Therapeutic Riding Program came through.

Still, getting him on the horse has not been a simple task.

“Having a lift will help so much,” Mrs. Mullin said.

Mr. Thompson and fellow students Mena Aziz, Nathan Holland, Anthony Lopez and Matthew Chatham-Tombs are members of UTC’s senior design class. They have been working on a prototype for the lift since January. They hope to have it complete and in use at the riding center by the end of summer.

“This will make things so much better,” said Dottie Davis, who owns the stables and instructs disabled riders with her husband, Bob Davis. “A lot of times, we’ve had to turn down riders simply because we didn’t have the manpower to lift them onto the horse.”

Mrs. Davis met with Dr. Cecelia Wigal, UC Foundation associate professor of engineering at UTC, who is in charge of securing a grant through the Tennessee Department of Education’s special education division. The cost of the lift is estimated at $2,200. Annually, the special education grant totals $35,000, but is intended to go toward improving assistive technology for children 0-6 years, Dr. Wigal said.