More from the Ride for Life

The Ride for Life was such a special event! This year, we were honored to have Debbie McDonald as the guest speaker. She is incredibly generous, something that was wonderful to learn about her while organizing the Ride for Life activities with her. First of all, she donated a one day clinic, all proceeds going to Johns Hopkins. We decided to auction off the clinic on eBay. This turned out to be a great idea! The auction brought in $8500!!!!! The best part is that the clinic will be used for para-equestrian riders.

Of course, she gave in other ways besides taking up 3 days of her time to come to the Ride for Life. The Fireside Chats were a big hit, and everyone seemed to love having some personal time to learn more about Debbie, Brentina and her philosophies. It was also an honor to hear about the little girl who came to Debbie through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and to hear how instrumental Brentina was to her recovery.

Debbie is such a down to earth person. She was so friendly to everyone, and seemed to have a good time being part of the gang. Here is a picture of Debbie, Me and Mercedes (who was the ‘Debbie Minder’ for the weekend). As you look at the picture, I just want to let you all know one thing….. long legs are not always what they are cracked up to be….but Nicole never took this as an excuse from me for not having my leg on the horse (yes, sometimes your legs feel too long for the horse)

You will also see a photo of the Dancing Horse Challenge committee with Debbie. Unfortunately the whole committee couldn’t be there on Sunday during the photos. However, Degas made it and seemed to enjoy being part of the gang and gave Debbie some extra kisses.

The next photo is of the Caravan for the Cure with Debbie. Those of you who don’t know, the Caravan is from North Carolina, and come up every year for the Ride for Life. They raised over $20,000 by themselves!!!! As a thank you for all their dedication and hard work, we arranged a private ‘chat’ with them and Debbie. When I walked out of the Fireside Chat room and found them all waiting in their Caravan t-shirts it was such a great sight!!! What an energetic, positive and fun group of people! Their group inspired many of us during the year as things got busy and tiring.

Look soon for more photos of the Tribute ride.