The Spirit of Champions

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard that Canada literally rocked the podium in Kentucky at the North American Junior & Young Riders Championships last week. Not only did Team Alberta walk away with the Team Competition gold medals, this past Saturday, July 31, 2010, our country took the individual gold, silver AND bronze medals. At precisely 7:59 am, I received a text message alerting me of the wonderful news and via folks on My Stable Life, Facebook, etc., word spread like wild fire.

Congratulations goes to Nancy Pratch from Alberta aboard Rooster Kicker for marking an incredible 215 to capture Gold in the Individual competition. Fellow Canadian, Darcy Wilson from Ontario and Miss Cielo Chex marked a 213.5 to slide into Silver and closing the medal race was Vanessa Strotman from British Columbia and her mount, Listos May Day Hobby with a 212.5 for Bronze.

Here are a couple more pics from Kentucky and some of Team Alberta\’s behind-the-scenes action:

What many readers may not know is that amongst the Gold Medal Team (Alberta), is a 19-year-old member who put forth a fantastic effort in Kentucky despite her current ongoing battle with brain cancer. In the true spirit of a champion, Kaylynn Malmberg helped to bring the gold medal to Canada all while dealing with a stress no person should ever have to face, let alone a young woman with so much talent and passion. Take a look at the following video clip done by a local Kentucky news crew and before I sign out for today, I\’d like to leave you with the following quote:

\”If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them.  When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?  We have two options, medically and emotionally:  give up, or fight like hell.\”

~Lance Armstrong

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