March 9, 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
I am forwarding this letter on behalf of my daughter. Please read through the letter and then feel free to contact me with your comments.
Kelsey my daughter at the time of writing this is soon fifteen years old and half way through grade nine. Kelsey is a vivacious, outgoing girl who easily meets new people and makes new friends. Early in elementary school we discovered that Kelsey has a learning disability that makes academics a struggle and causes her a great deal of frustration along with her teachers. Unfortunately we all made the mistake of assuming that it was lack of effort and ability or attention first before becoming aware that it was none of these things… poor little Kelsey’s brain just doesn’t work like the majority of children and while she comprehends theory’s and concepts at a average or above level she can not transfer this into formula’s or spelling in a written form. Even simple words come out jumbled. I wish I could say that this was discovered and addressed before any damage was done, but unfortunately we all; parents and teachers alike slogged away and Kelsey was made to feel lazy, dumb and a under achiever in many ways, her confidence paying the biggest price.
The reason this is significant is that when this was finally discovered things changed dramatically for Kelsey in the sense that her adjusted grading began to reflect she is a very average young lady. That being said she has a very negative taste in her mouth for academics and continues to continually find it a struggle.
We used to ask Kelsey what she would like to do… dance, act, participate in a competitive sport and the list goes on. Always however her response was the same… “I want to ride horses!” Finally one Sunday afternoon driving down a gravel road just off the main highway I saw a sign stating riding lessons were available. I wrote down the number and called to see what it was all about. The coach at the stable said, “Yes sometimes I accept new students, but I would like to meet Kelsey and talk with her.” This then was arranged. In her interview the coach asked Kelsey how badly she wanted to ride and she responded, “I would get a tooth pulled if it meant I could ride!” She didn’t have to get a tooth pulled, but in short order Kelsey started learning to ride. Her coach insisted that she learn all of it and so Kelsey started from cleaning hooves almost as big as she was to standing on a stool to put on the horses tack.
Kelsey from the start loved this… even cleaning the stalls etc. She finally had found something that she felt at home with. Then summer camp came… part of the camp was a small written test… Kelsey studied and studied as this was so important to her. The day of the test I will never forget the heart break I felt when they read the scores… Kelsey’s was the lowest… her face fell… she was crushed… she knew she knew the answers but what she had written had not communicated that! All of a sudden all of the feelings from school came flooding back and she was convinced that riding would be no different than school had been in the past. What followed was several weeks of a very sad little girl who’s heart had been broken… something she had grown to love was being snatched away from her. We responded quickly, I met with her coach explained what had happened and fortunately she could empathize having faced similar experiences with her own children… carefully we began rebuilding what was almost lost… Kelsey’s confidence returned.
Winter turned to spring and a new showing season began… this brought on the question to Kelsey… do you want to show? No! The answer was emphatic and definite… I do not. She was content just to ride… however friendships had formed with the other students at the stable and so finally after several invitations Kelsey agreed to go to a horse show to help with the horses and watch her friends. She came home bubbling over… “Daddy I can do that!” and so started her showing… she was right… she could do it and before the end of the year she was first and second for the 2008 year in the province of Alberta in the two levels she competed at.
In the 2009 riding season Kelsey advanced from x-rails and 18” jumps to where at the end of the season she was competing as a jumper over 2’3” and 2’6” fences. In her very first show at this level she competed in classes of 15+ riders and placed in eighth and sixth places! This brought about an amazing invitation; her coach and several riders from the world renowned St. Georges Stable in
Calgary were competing in
Tucson Arizona at the Tucson Fall Preview and the Tucson Fall Festival shows. Kelsey was invited to compete there also… and so arrangements were made so this could happen. Kelsey returned home as Reserve Champion in the .75 Division. The following weekend she showed for the first time at Spruce Meadows and won 2009 Novice Champion for the 2’3” class.
Kelsey continued competing and training with diligence throughout 2010. This was a good year for Kelsey and as she bonded with her horse Leonardo they continued to enjoy a great deal of success. Kelsey competed in the Bow Valley Classic I and II and the Mid Summer Classic I and II. She won Champion and Reserve Champion at both of these and then at her own stables first annual horse show she won Champion again. The year was finalized by her second trip to
Tucson Arizona where she competed for a second time this time at the .85 level. She did very well winning Champion and two Reserve Champion placing out of a possible four, she also competed for the first time at .90 (3’) going in four classes and placing in all four visits to the ring.
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