Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine Sept 2018 Vol 3 Issue 3

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

One being more invasive than the other, but both being estrogen positive. Because of my diagnosis, I went on to have a complete hysterectomy and a double mastectomy. I

was bad, but she was alive. After the accident, she received a lot of stares, questions, and comments but she handled it like a champion. She took each day in stride and just as I did with my cancer diagnosis, gained a completely new perspective on life. I had overheard Amber and Sara talking about Fallon Taylor while watching some of her snapchat videos. They both stated how they would love to be able to attend one of her clinics. Therefore, with that being said, I did some research and discovered she was going to be in Palmyra, MO, a little over 5 hours from our house. What better way to bring in the New Year after everything we had been through. The girls were so excited. As the days got closer, I still didn’t REALLY know who Fallon was. In my mind, I assumed she was this major barrel racer, who was doing a clinic for publicity, did not really care about the girls that signed up, and was going to do her thing then leave. February 12, 2017, it was clinic day. The girls could not contain themselves. We were parked

Fallon who? That is the question I asked myself on a cold night in January when I was making reservations for my stepdaughter’s to attend a barrel racing clinic. Little did I know, that clinic would not only benefit my stepdaughter’s it would benefit me. You see, I have never considered myself a barrel racer. When my daughter was growing up, she participated in youth and high school rodeos all over Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Her passion was goat tying and that is what we focused on as a family. We would travel to little barrel jackpot’s every now and then just to change things up a little bit. It was not until 2010 that I started going to more and more barrel racing jackpots, because at the time my boyfriend’s daughters’ where getting the taste of the sport. The girls were just starting to compete on a couple of horses I provided them and they both loved it. Jump head to 2016, needless to say we have had better years. In January 2016, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I not only had one type, but both types of breast cancer.

wanted to reduce my chances of reoccurrence as much as possible. Needless to see the months following were not only stressful but emotional as well. I lost myself as a woman, but at the same time, I gained a completely new perspective on life. October 7, 2016 I received a call that my 15-year-old stepdaughter had been in a car accident. Without going into all the details, I can say she and the other two girls in the car are lucky to be alive. One girl suffered major brain injuries, the other had several fractures in her back, but Amber had an injury that she would have to see the rest of her life. A daily reminder of the poor choices she made. She ended up with a bad cut on the left side of her check that started at the bottom of her eye socket and ended up towards the top of her jaw. The doctors said they stopped counting at 250+ stitches. It

right outside Fallon's trailer. The weather was brisk, but sunny. The horses were feeling good. Every one of the girls were

Everything Horses and Livestock® | August 2018 | EHALmagazine.com 14