The Horse Girl
I am a lifelong equestrian with a dozen kindred passions, including photography, writing, art, and care management. In 2016, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, which has changed the direction of my life, both equestrian and professional. From 8 years old, designing my future barn of mansion-proportions in crayon on the back of homework assignments, to the start of my Equine Science and Management degree at university, I've had a one-track mind and a horse-centered plan for my future. After attempting to defy my diagnosis and subsequent health challenges for many years, I eventually had to reassess my dreams and redesign them to cater to my disability.
Horses have always been the epicenter of my personality. Not only was I the Horse Girl growing up, I was the Homeschooled Christian Horse Girl from Alaska. During the period of my educational career in which I could not afford to continue riding regularly, I felt adrift, no longer marked by those peculiar qualities. Even when I made the decision to redirect my education back towards the equine industry, my plans for the future were always hazy at best. However, when my husband and I made the bold decision last year to sell our house, uproot our life, get a flighty thoroughbred mare, and move across the continent where I found myself in a barn family for the first time since childhood, I realized that there were so many different pathways open to me. I wanted to reclaim that title of Horse Girl and let it encompass not only my education, but my career, my hobbies, my family, and my future.
The horse I acquired on our way to Canada helped me discover new passions and strengths. As my first horse owned as an adult, every interaction with her increased my desire to create something for myself in this industry. Caring for her through several major injuries aligned all those missing pieces I'd been searching for and placed me in a position to recognize several possibilities for my future that would allow me and my disabilities to coexist in the horse world.
I now work at an equine veterinary hospital, where I hope to start my new educational and career path towards becoming a certified veterinary technician. While continuing to pursue my passions of equine photography, I also hope to further my work as a social media coordinator in the equine industry. My ultimate objective, though possibly very distant, is to open and run an equine sports and performance rehabilitation and conditioning center. Helping my mare through her injuries, recovery, and rehabilitation was incredibly difficult at times, and not very many resources were available for me to ease the pain of the process. I want to provide a comfortable, positive, and healing environment for other horses on that same path.
During the year that I worked and lived as the barn manager of one of the nicest show jumping facilities in Southwestern Ontario, I was blessed with opportunities to experience many beautiful and magical moments with the horses under my care. The following photos depict a choice few of those moments, when nature and life found themselves in total harmony, allowing me a glimpse for just an instant at the magic that horses share with us.
