12/30/2024
Long post. Please read to the end. 🙏🏻
One of my favorite songs has a line that says,
“Way back on the radio dial, the fire got lit inside a bright eyed child”
For me, is that “radio dial”. I started lessons at age 5( first picture on Jet). I went to summer camp as soon as I was old enough. I went through the stages of earning my Beginner Certificate, Intermediate Certificate , I graduated off of lesson horses and got my very first lease horse then my first horse of my own (second picture with Teague). I became a counselor and fell in love with teaching and training horses. With much hard work, I earned my Advanced Certificates. Mrs. Pam was my absolute inspiration. She was Super Pam to us. She taught us so much more than riding lessons. I spent every waking moment at the barn. Working for free, working for rides, begging to ride any extra horses, sitting in the ring to watch lessons. I met most of my lifelong friends at El Gezira. I eventually earned my Instructor’s Certificate and started training up horses myself. I cried for a full day when I moved to a barn of my own because there just were not words to thank Mrs. Pam for everything she had taught me. She is and always has been such a staple in the Alabama Equestrian community.
Fast forward 13 years, I woke up to the most devastating photos and news. The barn I called home for most of my life, was absolutely destroyed in a storm. The covered arena we were so blessed to ride in, buckled to the ground. The boarding barn where all my horses lived, had the roof completely ripped off of it. Thankfully, all the horses and farm residents are safe! The farm is in need of the horse community to help it get back on its feet. If you have read this far, thank you. If you were part of the first clean up crew today, please know how much your help meant to all who have called EGRA home. If you are just learning about this and would like to help, please consider a donation to the GoFundMe link below or reach out for Pam’s Venmo information. Anything helps!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/el-gezira-riding-academy-tornado-relief?
