This year at the barn has been a busy one, and a learning experience! During the fall we have been in action every day most weeks, the schedule has been packed. Riders have come and gone, we’ve adjusted to new horses, and we have seen a lot of growth of knowledge in riders, instructors, and skill and understanding in the horses. It has been a trying year, one where I have wondered if this program is the right path for the riders and myself. However, this past Friday for the second year in a row, we were fortunate enough to host our Annual Rider’s Banquet at Camp Cherokee. One of our riders agreed to write and share a story of one of her experiences at the barn. Her story helped me to remember why I enjoy this program, and to focus on the positive rather than the negative. I hope that by sharing this story, everyone that reads it will realize the importance of “going forward no matter what!”  The following was written and shared by Ava Hulsey:

Once, I was riding a 14.2 hand, beautiful, Arabian named Kisses. In my lesson, we were playing a game called leap frog, and it was my turn to trot around all the other horses to be in the front of the line. However, being a baby beginner at the time, my trot accidentally turned into a canter and I panicked. As Kisses had the time of her life cantering around the arena, I proceeded to drop the reins and hold onto her neck. After the second lap and one buck, that I didn’t even notice, I fell off. Savannah helped me up, helped me dry my tears and convinced me to get back on, but I was scared! After that fall, I begged my parents not to make me go to riding. I was so afraid that I would fall off and for a long time, every time I sat on a horse I cried. But I am sure glad they didn’t give in!

Through that experience and the months that followed, as I worked to become comfortable on the horse again; I learned that on your way to achieving something, there will be hard times, bumps, bruises, and obstacles, but you have to keep going forward no matter what! If one bad thing happens, you can’t just stop, you will never be victorious if you do! Maybe you want to be in the Olympics so you are very serious, but it is important to remember to have fun and just be the best YOU can be, because no thing on earth is perfect, especially when it comes to people and horses!