Finding hope through my traumatic injury.

For one beautiful rider, Bridle Up Hope’s mission statement has helped to define her. When she was just a toddler, her family was in a traumatic car accident resulting in significant life-altering consequences—a lifetime of brain trauma, paralysis, and other physical challenges. It was immensely hard at a young age knowing she was different, having no self-esteem, being embarrassed, constantly asking herself if she would live dependent on her mom, and wondering if she would ever find someone who “loves me for me.”

In the five years of riding at Bridle Up Hope, she has truly incorporated the 7 Habits of Equestrians into her daily life, creating private victories that truly inspire all around her! She has found her voice and is striving to inspire others to find theirs. She has allowed a terrible tragedy in her life to shape her in a positive way and help her become the person she is today. This rider continues to live life to the fullest and she just recently married the love of her life.

Her mission is to live with hope, confidence, and resilience and she has learned and embraced this choice with the help of the horses at Bridle Up Hope! This is how she describes it in her own words:

“Since coming to Bridle Up Hope, I can see in myself the gift of knowing my own worth and having a voice. Everyone matters in this world!!! You have to know when you’re going through a hard time. Then, we can stop, think of those gifts, and then inspire others to do the same. Just like us, each horse at Bridle Up Hope has very powerful gifts to give.

Montego, who is going blind, helps us see through quiet intention. He helps us see obstacles we can always overcome. I have overcome my fears and now I realize I can do my part and trust and follow-through. I can do hard things. This is HOPE.

Kokomo & Tarzan are the sentinel reminders to be aware of our choices. This is CONFIDENCE—to realize our choices all matter and make a difference. We need to decide what difference we want to make. Once Kokomo was a bit colicky and it was very scary. However, when I looked into his eyes, I knew he was going to fight through his suffering. I felt he was speaking directly to me saying he understood how I felt and that our journey isn’t over. Even though I never knew Rachel (the girl who Bridle Up Hope is inspired by), I know the love she has for this horse and this inspires me to have confidence and never forget that I am loved.

Big, beautiful Winston inspires happiness! Happiness is understanding you do not need to have everything all at once, but just to discover your gifts. This is the gift of RESILIENCE. We have to live and learn about the gifts in US that will inspire others! Always ask yourself: ‘How can I share my gifts?’ Choosing a positive, happy mindset means we always try to live gratefully. We are resilient and this is a gift. Winston gave so much to me and he makes me excited to learn and discover my own strengths and choose happiness.

Every one of the horses reminds us that every person is precious. Every person has gifts that can inspire hope, confidence, and resilience. Every horse has a purpose, everything we do with the horses has a purpose and every person has a purpose in this world. If we have a positive mindset and just live life gratefully, we come to know ourselves. We can overcome any challenge and truly live with hope. We can be more confident and we can be resilient knowing that the obstacles of life do NOT define us, they refine us. We always have a choice. Rebecca Covey told me once: ‘If you ever feel you’re not good enough, tell yourself to be still, walk outside, and look up at the sky. Feel the sun on your face and really believe it's okay. It's hard but you can get through anything.’ Hope, confidence, and resilience are gifts we all can have, just as the horses do. Every life is precious and that matters!”