On my seventh birthday, my grandmother gave me a special gift. Rather than giving me something material, she gave me a lifelong passion - horses. As a gift, she let me have my first horseback riding lesson a small pony named Sir Lancelot. Even though she passed away less than two years later, she left me with something that would shape the rest of my life.

The next summer, my parents sent me to pony camp, and the obsession begun. Not long after that I was taking lessons, and continuing to ride into middle school. Riding horses grounded me - it gave me something meaningful to spend my time doing when I was stressed or worried.

Sadly, I quit riding in middle school. I felt like I was going nowhere, and that everyone around me had more opportunities to compete and be successful. But my freshman year of high school my mother dragged me back into it, and there I was doing it again.

Every kids dream is to have a pony. My parents surprised me on the 15th birthday with a horse, or well, the promise I could get one. Less than two weeks later, Hope came to our barn, and I’ve had her for three years now. Hope and I have been through it together, from medical emergency to ulcers to getting a lesson with an advanced dressage trainer. Hope has her quirks, but she is full of personality, and I am eternally grateful for her. She has taught me so much, and gave me a reason to continue horseback riding even through rough patches.