Holiday Stories Hallmark Style, continued...
commiserate or swap stories at summer camp or a special event. Patients with CF shouldn’t meet in person, because they may inadvertently infect one another with certain bacteria that lead to serious infections.
Kicking On If the medical community had their way, we would fo- cus on therapy seven days a week. But we try to strike a balance. In addition to hunt- ing, showing and sidesaddle, Brynn is on swim and soccer teams – and we do chores, muck stalls and have dinner. Her medical team theorizes that her unusually high ac- tivity level makes up for her missed therapy sessions.
Horses & Horse People If horses are part of Brynn’s therapy, then the equestrian community is our support group. When we go hunting, we are just members in the fi eld. Only Brynn’s not. Brynn is something special. And not be- cause of CF. Brynn is just being Brynn. Independent and
Martin is an avid hiker and fi ve years ago, he channeled his energy into founding “Xtreme Hike,” a fundraising event for the DC Metro Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Held annually in late September, participants tackle a 25-mile, mountainous hike, in a single day. As a participant myself, I reached out to
“Yes, Brynn, you’ll have to do thumping. Even as an adult.” What I really want to say is: “I hope not. I hope that someday you’ll be free from this cumbersome machine,
from the hospital visits and antibiotics. I look forward to the day when you cough, and my heart doesn’t sink with dread because I know that you are sick again.”
A Christmas Wish Maybe, with the progress made in medical research be- cause of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, just maybe there will be a day when I will be able to say, “You’re free, Brynn. You are free.”
A Sanctuary for Giants by Katherine O. Rizzo
The fi rst horse arrived to Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue’s new sanctuary in July. The goal is to have 40 horses there come spring.
forward, she rides her own line. She barks or- ders, such as “Staff , please!” warning riders to yield for passing whips, and admonishes members who stray from the edge, and tread on a planted fi eld. She banters with adults in a cheeky fashion. Hunting boosts Brynn’s spirits – but it also instills good manners, which keeps her truculent teenage side at bay (for which her father and I are grateful). Meanwhile, as her parents, in order to fi ght our feelings of helplessness, we do what we can.
Gle
Davidsonville, Maryland 410-798-1635
• Outdoor Riding Ring • Lighted Indoor Arena with Perma Flex™ Footing • Full-service Boarding Stable • Family Owned & Managed for Over 30 Years • Located in the Rolling Hills of Rural Davidsonville
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Outside Instructors Welcome • Leasing • Showing Stalls Available - Retirees Welcome
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16 | THE EQUIERY | DECEMBER 2017
Dec.- Mar. 2018
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to find how you can host your activity here.
Water, Calendar of Events Dec. 2 - 3 Donation Derby Benefitting Retired Racehorse Project
Can’t go down South this winter? Don’t let your training slide - Schooling over 100+ XC Jumps on 8 + acres all-Weather Rings - Banks, Ditches, Water. By Appointment.
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www.lochmoyfarm.com •
www.themarylandhorsetrials.com 301-514-0111 • 1235 Park Mills Road • Adamstown, MD
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friends and family for donations before our most recent hike, held at Wintergreen Resort. Brynn’s friends and fans in our equestrian com- munity contributed over $13,000 of the nearly $16,000 that I raised. Potomac Hunt members were responsible for the bulk, but there are al- ways several horse people whom I’ve never met, but who have somehow, somewhere crossed Brynn’s path. And the kindness of the eques- trian community keeps me going when I’m feeling low.
“Am I going to have to wear my vest for the rest of my life?”
Compliance is always a struggle with Brynn.
In 2005 when Christine Hajek founded Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue, based in
Mt. Airy, her primary goal was to rescue, re- habilitate and re-home draft horses. T e 501(c) (3) non-profi t organization has grown from one horse to over one hundred, and this sum- mer, expanded its operations to include a new 105-acre farm to be used as a sanctuary for those horses not able to be easily re-homed. “T e rescue has been needing a sanctuary for at least fi ve years and we had been actively looking at locations in the mid-West,” Chris- tine said pointing out that land is much cheap- er in those areas versus Maryland. “We already had the funds for a down payment set aside, we just needed the perfect farm.”
continued...
from your nebulizer,
Katherine O. Rizzo
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