Equestrian Network Magazine


	Lily
	by M. Y. Mim

	Very simply, Lily is lovely.

	A beautiful, registered Icelandic dapple-gray mare, Lily was born in 1992. She came to Hearts Adaptive Therapeutic Riding Program (www.heartsadaptiveriding.org) in 2002 thanks to a partial donation and purchase with the help of a generous grant from the Venoco Corporation.

	Lily looks like the quintessential fairy tale horse. While nearly everyone is smitten by Lily, she especially charms Hearts' young disabled riders.

	But Lily is more than a beauty: She's a hard-working, invaluable therapeutic mount. Her gentle, calm and friendly disposition have made her a favorite horse for the disabled clients Hearts serves, especially with the kids.


	Angelique, a mentally incapacitated young client, loves riding Lily, who seems to possess a special knowledge for special riders. Photo by Arielle.

	Hearts Adaptive Therapeutic Riding Program (logo)				As is typical of Icelandics, Lily offers very smooth gaits, including the tolt. This makes Lily an outstanding therapy horse. She also shares the Icelandic traits of strength, hardiness and an affectionate and unflappable disposition. She serves as a great ambassador for the Icelandic breed and for Hearts Adaptive.

	Lily represented Hearts twice last year. She participated in the annual Holiday Milpas Parade. Also, Hearts hosted in July the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) regional conference at Monty Roberts' Flag is Up Farm. Lily was on hand to show off Hearts' methods of helping the disabled.


	Lily gets ready for her new role as official Hearts Parade Horse at the 2004 Milpas Street Christmas Parade. Photo by Arielle.

	Hearts chose Lily to be the 2005 Horse of the Year. One of her star turns last year was her appearance at the 20th Anniversary Denim and Diamonds Gala event, Saturday, October 22, at the prestigious Polo Grounds in Montecito. This fundraising and promotional event, the first attempted by Hearts, raised $17,000 for the center, garnered national publicity as well as extensive local coverage. The fast-paced program entertained some 150 horse and Hearts fans. Hearts credits Lily for helping make the event a success.

	One particularly fun feature of the Gala capitalized on the currently popularity of flavored martinis. Hearts created a "Martini Corral" �C specialty drinks named after Hearts' horses. In honor of Lily, for example, guests bought a Lily's Icy Peppermintini, a mixture of Absolut Vodka and Peppermint Schnapps.

	The highlight of the Gala was the auction of an exquisite, specially commissioned portrait of Lily by renowned equine artist Katie Upton. Upton captured Lily's spirit perfectly in this stunning painting.


	Portrait of Lily by Katie Upton.Copy courtesy of Upton.

	Upton's paintings hang in galleries and collections throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Her much sought-after art has appeared in dozens of prestigious exhibitions, both solo and group. (www.katieupton.com) Upton's portraits of champion racehorse Secretariat inspired Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner, to comment "Katie Upton captures the soul of a horse like no other." She's done the same with Lily. Art experts valued the portrait at $4,000.

	Owning a Katie Upton painting presented a rare opportunity to live with an original and highly collectible work of art. The bidding raged, with final winnerRobin Hill-Ward elated over her purchase.


	From left to right: Robin Hill-Ward, auction winner of the fabulous painting of Lily; Lily, Hearts' Horse of the Year; Katie Upton, artist, holding her painting at the Santa Barbara Polo Grounds. Photo by Toni Almqvist.

	If you, too, love the Upton painting, visit www.cafepress.com/heartsadaptive and you can purchase t-shirts and other items adorned with Upton's Lily. Childrens' sizes are available, too. When you make a purchase from CafePress Hearts Adaptive store, you'll have the additional satisfaction of supporting Hearts. Hearts, and all our disabled students, rely on public support.


	This women's tank-top and greeting cards are just two of the items featuring Upton's fabulous portrait of Lily that you can own by visiting www.cafepress.com/heartsadaptive.

	Hearts is enormously grateful to Ms. Upton for her outstanding generosity. Hearts is equally grateful to the fabulous Lily who has helped literally hundred of disabled folk improve their health, spirits, balance, stamina and outlook on life.

	Lily is truly a star.


	Lily at home at Hearts. Photo by Arielle.


	M. Y. Mim has been a professional writer and editor for nearly 30 years. She spent the last decade of her career with The Seattle Times. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1990, her condition worsened to the point that she was forced to leave work in 1996 and was determined totally disabled. Spurred by missing the outdoors and the back country, she began therapeutic horseback riding at Hearts Adaptive in 2001 and instantly fell in love with all things equine. She has been on two week-long horse backpacking trips for disabled adults in Colorado. Although major surgery in January, 2006, has set her back several months, she expects to return to therapeutic riding soon and retains her dream/goal of one day owning her own horse. Writing about riding combines her two passions.


	M. Y. Mim with Hearts horse Cash.


	Do you have a wonderful story about a horse that has impacted your life for the better? Send us your story, along with a picture, and we might publish it. Stories must not have been previously published or copyrighted. All photographs must be taken and owned by you and you must have full rights to them. Each month we will select and publish a story from those submitted by our readers. Please send your story to info@equestmagazine.com and write "horse story" in the subject line. All stories must be less than 800 words and have no typographical or grammatical errors. Who knows, your story may get published just like M. Y. Mim and Lilly.


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