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.

“But we’re hoping to get this grant changed to allow to support children through 12th grade,” Dr. Wigal said. “So the money would come from there. If the grant cannot be changed, there are grants elsewhere that can help an older disabled population, and support from community is always welcome.”

The lift design includes side rails and a sling for the rider to sit in and a mechanical means of hoisting the rider into the saddle. Depending on the amount of money allocated for the project, the lift will either be one cranked by hand or one with at least a 12-volt battery so that the lift could be operated with the push of a button.

All designs, however, call for the lift to be portable so that it can be transported to different equestrian events.

The five-person design team hopes to have the lift finished and ready to test by the end of summer, in time for the equestrian Special Olympics in October.

“They have to have it ready by the end of fall semester because this is part of the curriculum,” Dr. Wigal said. “But sometimes students get attached to the purpose of their designs, so if they are planning on working this summer, they are doing it on their own time. They’re doing it because they want to make this deadline for this customer.”

Mrs. Davis said she’s just looking forward to making dreams of riding a horse possible for all disabled people.

“I cannot tell you how much it empowers someone with a disability when they get on a horse and are in instant control,” she said. “It changes their lives and is very inspiring.”