Taylor has had a lot of exposure to family and friends’ house pets in her 13 years, but always with fear and trepidation. With frequent, repeated exposure, she eventually warmed up to her aunt’s dog and neighbor’s cat. Even then, she was still anxious being around them and would rarely get close enough to pet them.

When we heard about TROT, it sounded like a good opportunity to get Taylor out of her comfort zone. Although we knew she wasn’t ready to get on a horse, we took her to TROT for an evaluation. As expected, Cynthia’s judgment confirmed Taylor wasn’t ready to ride a horse. She suggested Horse 101 as a starting point. One year later Taylor attended her first Horse 101 class. She was extremely anxious and kept as much distance as possible between her and the horses. Cynthia and her staff were patient and encouraging with Taylor. On her 8th session she said she wanted to ride a horse (we think because another student wanted to ride) and the TROT volunteers agreed she was ready. At first she wouldn’t get on the horse but Cynthia and her team encouraged her to get on. Taylor rode the horse all the way around the arena with cheers from the staff. Taylor’s confidence grew to a new level and her happiness with her accomplishment quickly followed. It was an incredible achievement and we are excited to see her continue to grow and flourish from TROT’s amazing programs.