"A Bond Beyond Words: My Journey with Ellie"

9

I went to H.O.O.V.E.S. a walking disaster—

At least, that’s how it felt on the inside.

Emotionally shut down.

Numb.

Disconnected.

I had spent years in survival mode, pushing through pain I never gave myself permission to feel.

I wasn’t living—I was just getting by.

Smiling on the outside, breaking on the inside.

I didn’t even know how far I had drifted from myself… until her.

Ellie.

She wasn’t in the arena the first day—at least not physically.

But I heard her.

Loud.

Vocal.

Unmistakable.

Right in the middle of a difficult exercise, she made herself known.

Running outside the fence. Crying out in a way that pierced straight through me. I feel like no one else even seen or heard her.

At first I was confused… but then I realized—

She wasn’t just being noisy.

She was speaking for me.

Every sound she made echoed how I had felt for so long.

The restlessness. The pressure. The loneliness.

She moved with the same tension I carried inside.

And in that moment, something inside me broke open.

That was my shift.

Not because I understood it fully, but because something ancient and unseen had finally been acknowledged—through her.

Ellie felt what I couldn’t say.

And she refused to let me stay silent.

After that, she began to show up in more ways than one.

By my side during exercises.

Present during breakthroughs.

Unwavering as I dug through layer after layer of buried emotions.

Through Ellie, I learned how often I dismiss my needs.

How tightly I grip control.

How deeply I still carry things I thought I let go of.

She was a mirror.

She was medicine.

She was mine in that sacred space—and I was hers.

But it wasn’t just Ellie.

It was H.O.O.V.E.S.—this mission, this space, this family—that gave me the tools to rediscover who I actually am.

It didn’t try to fix me.

It handed me the reins and reminded me I’ve had the power all along.

Because of H.O.O.V.E.S., I don’t just feel seen—I feel safe.

Because of Ellie, I don’t just feel strong—I feel connected.

This journey gave me back to myself.

And now, I carry their mission in my bones:

To rescue others the way I was rescued.

To hold space the way space was held for me.

To walk beside those still in the dark—and help them find their way back to the light.

One breath.

One truth.

One horse at a time.