This site is for all of you that have a dream but for some reason keep putting it off. That is what I did until the summer of 2010. Since then I have been off and running in my Quest and loving every minute of it. I hope to inspire you to do the same. Hopefully you will find, as I have, that the fun is in the getting there, it’s the journey, it’s the climb.
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| The author, shown with curly brown hair, pets her new pony Gypsy on Christmas Eve. |
I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. When I was five Santa brought me a dappled gray Shetland pony named Gypsy. My father put me on her with just a bridle to hold onto. Gypsy took off galloping, cutting across our neighbor’s property lines.
I was instantly hooked.
I was instantly hooked.
When I outgrew Gypsy, my father bought me Nehi, a strawberry roan aptly named after the popular 1970’s soda. Many of the girls in my neighborhood had horses too. We kept them in our backyards with open sheds as stalls. Given the mild weather, that is all they needed. We spent our summers and days after school riding in the woods, along the bay, and through the orange groves.
Life was good.
A defining moment in my life happened when I was eleven. I was asked to watch the younger sister of a classmate during her horse show. My classmate had the most beautiful show pony I had ever seen and all the fancy riding gear and show attire to go with it.
I so wished to be her.
I would have given anything to be her at that moment in time. My mother had died when I was seven, leaving my father to raise me and my six brothers and sisters. The only riding gear I had was a bridle. Horse shows and fancy clothes were simply not in the cards for me. I did realize, however, how fortunate I was to have a pony at all.
I would have given anything to be her at that moment in time. My mother had died when I was seven, leaving my father to raise me and my six brothers and sisters. The only riding gear I had was a bridle. Horse shows and fancy clothes were simply not in the cards for me. I did realize, however, how fortunate I was to have a pony at all.
The sad part was that this girl did not care about her pony or the show or any of it. She was so indulged that none of it really mattered to her at all. Her pony was just another thing and she did not treat it very kindly.
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| Jaliska, my princess, pokes her head out of her stall window to say hello. |
Quest for the Prix is dedicated to
Jaliksa (7), Nicole (11) and Bobby (13).
Anything is possible, if you believe.
Jaliksa (7), Nicole (11) and Bobby (13).
Anything is possible, if you believe.
Victoria Waters, CEO of Green Education Foundation (GEF), has another dream of creating a sustainable future through education. GEF, a non-profit organization, provides sustainability courses, curriculum and resources to students and educators worldwide with the goal of challenging them to think holistically and critically about global environmental concerns and solutions. Visit www.greeneducationfoundation.org to learn more.
