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Life Lessons Learned Growing Up in a Barn by Madalyn Norton
When I was nearly ten years old a sentence came out of my mouth that changed my life forever.
I was at dinner with my parents and we were just having typical conversation when all of the sudden this idea came into my head. I looked across the table at both of them and said, “I want to start riding horses”. Now let me explain my background here, I live in the suburbs of Columbus, the closet I had ever been to a horse at this point in my life was a pony ride at the zoo, so when I first said this the only look I got was of pure confusion. However, I was lucky enough to have parents that worked hard to make my ambitious dreams come true so the next day when my dad got home from work he had some news. The lady that worked a few offices down from him owned a horse and had given him some contact information for her trainer. Later that evening my dad gave her a call and the next thing I knew I was on my way out to my first of many lessons. My parents didn’t know what they were getting themselves into that day when they set me to ride in my rain boots and bike helmet but I think they would agree that growing up around horses has taught me many valuable lessons. 32 Summer 2017 • Haflinger Horse
