3 hours. That’s it. No more. No less. In just 3, simple hours, I learned more about myself than I have this entire summer.
On Tuesday night at polo practice, my trainer and the founder of the barn I volunteer at, told my best friend and I that she would really need our help the next day because a group of girls were coming to the barn to learn about horses and ride a little. My first thought was “No biggie, people come to the barn all the time. We give a tour, teach them some horse stuff, and then they can ride a little. We have done it before, tomorrow will be no different.” The next morning was the same old thing; get ready for the barn, pack my bag, grab my phone, head out the door. That morning I had asked my mom to stop at Starbucks, which she answered with a stern “No, if we stop, we will be late.” I was not content with that response, but I figured I was lucky to be going to the barn at all. We had camp in the morning, ate lunch, and finished the rest of the chores. We were in the middle of a spur-of-the-moment jumping lesson when 2 vans pulled into our barn parking lot. One of our best volunteers went to meet them, while we finished up in the ring. Once we finished cooling out our horses, we promptly headed up the hill, where we were met by 5 teenage girls, scrambling to get their boots & helmets. We stopped to introduce ourselves and our horses, who they were delighted to meet. After untacking, we met the rest of the group (9 girls, 2 counselors), and ended up splitting into 2 groups; the tour group and the riding group. I helped with the riding group, while my trainer gave the other group a tour. We taught the girls how to groom, tack up, and lead their horses down to the arena. I decided to be the “walker” for Bert, one of our largest, but best, school horses. The girl who chose to ride Bert was a little tentative at first, but eased up after she got a feel for his easy-going personality. We mostly chatted about the barn and how I got involved with horses, and I taught her the basic mechanics of riding. Then, it came time to trot. Coming from someone who used to ride Bert a lot, his trot is definitely the bounciest out of all our horses, which means trotting without knowing how to post is actually pretty uncomfortable. She gave him a little kick and instantly her entire face lit up, and she started laughing and giggling, just like a little kid. It was her first time riding, but she seemed totally at ease trotting circles and watching all of her friends trot around. It’s hard to explain, but she just had this look of absolute contentment, like she wasn’t thinking about anything else, just focusing on this moment. Then we decided to give the rest of the girls a ride, and she ended up riding again, on another one of our best school horses. After untacking and grooming, we all sat around chatting and eating snacks until the counselors said that they needed to get going so they wouldn’t hit traffic. They gave us hugs and every last one of them left with a huge smile on their face.

Would you believe me if I told you that every single one of those girls have had a traumatic, unbearable, and disturbing childhood? So bad that you cannot even begin to imagine how they got managed to endure it? Yeah, me neither. Every single one of these girls was a product of child prostitution and molestation, some even being as young as 9 and 10. I knew about their situations before they came, and I was expecting a shy, docile, reserved group of girls, but boy was I wrong. These girls were so friendly, excited, and open, I was shocked. After the day, we were all discussing how the day went, and we were all moved by the group. It truly made me think; this morning I was so mad that my mom wouldn’t let me stop at Starbucks, and here these girls are, with such a harsh and dreadful past behind them and am extremely tough road ahead of them, and here I am, complaining about getting a $5 frappuccino. This summer I have been so grateful to have been able to go to the barn every single day, but that day really opened my eyes to what else I have, and how much I really have to be grateful for. After hearing and learning about these girls situations, I definitely feel more grateful for everything that I have; a family that I can count on and that support me, friends that I can see whenever I want, an education that will carry me through life, and opportunities that will mold me into who I turn out to be. I don’t think these girls understand that in just a few hours, we may have impacted them, but they impacted us as well. I’ve been with my barn since I was 8, and every day I am reminded in multiple ways how lucky I am to have them, as I am only 15 short minutes away from my heaven. I am really glad that we were able to make the day possible, because that’s what horses do; they change lives, no matter how big or small, one person at a time.