Tag: Overcoming Adversity

I was just getting back into the groove with my lovely Global Jedi (fondly known as Obi-Wan) following surgery and rehab to repair a fractured splint bone, when I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Obi is more than just my dream horse—he’s a vessel for all of my equestrian hopes, dreams, and goals. He’s the horse I plan to finish earning my USDF Bronze Medal with, the horse I plan to run my first 2* event with, and the horse with whom the sky is the limit.

We found my older gelding, Toby, down in his stall. He was in obvious distress and pain, but still scrambled to his feet when I asked him to stand. Stacey had already administered banamine and my vet had been called, but Toby was still seriously struggling. He let me clip his lead rope to his halter and followed me, staggering, out of his stall.

The stunning Lipizzan! We are celebrating them as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage! Dressage riders who choose Lipizzans as their mounts are...

Back in 2008, a Florida breeder of Lipizzans for 40 years welcomed a bay colt into their Lipizzan family. He was the only non-gray Lipizzan foal born to this breeder, and he was promptly named Chester. Tradition requires male Lipizzans be named in a certain way for the registry, so Chester’s fancy name was Siglavy Presciana II-II (Siglavy Aga x Presciana II).   He was backed at five-and-a-half-years-old, and when I met him in 2015 at 7, he was a recently-gelded, sassy, but beautifully started 15.1 hand powerhouse.  It was love at first sight, and I had to buy him.

This article won the 2021 GMO Newsletter Award for a first person article for GMOs with 175-499 members. It originally appeared in the Georgia...

My first and only horse came to me through a series of incredibly lucky and unlikely events. For anyone who was ever a fan of the classic horse girl book/movie National Velvet, you might read this and notice the shocking similarities. At the age of twelve all I wanted to do was eat, sleep, and breathe horses.

I had gone on an inn-to-inn weeklong trail riding trek. On the second day, the horse I was riding tripped violently, falling on top of me, at the beach on the water's edge. I fell in the water, and I could feel it up to my ears while lying immobile with my head held still by another rider, waiting for the helicopter to airlift me to Galway University Hospital. Another French doctor rider, a cardiologist, also tended to me, and they saved my life.

First generation American, daughter of a refugee, wheelchair user, advocate, assault survivor, unashamed. Mia Rodier-Dawallo is a Grade II, international Para Dressage competitor, a Persian-American, a survivor, and a rising star.

Coming back from a serious injury is not easy. I truly believe that horses find us, we don’t find them. He is my prince.

Someone once told me that riding “is all about the journey” and, from my experience, I can tell you that it’s the truth. The journey with my mare, Bright Design aka Piper, has had its ups and downs. To this day, I still have moments of wonder each time I get on her. How did we come this far? By Alicia Stock