Meet Pam & Penny

Their Hoofprints Remain

Long before Natural Freedom Wellness Center was a thought, a vision, or even a dream, there was a little girl—and a horse named Penny. 

I was eight years old when I first knew, with a certainty that only a child could have, that I needed horses in my life. I did not grow up in a horse family. There were no horses waiting for me at home, no family tradition of riding, and no one who could have predicted that horses would eventually become such a defining part of my life. 

But I knew. I didn’t just want a horse. I needed one. 

My parents weren’t quite as convinced. They loved me and wanted to support my dreams, but they also knew something I had yet to fully understand: owning a horse was not just about riding and having fun. A horse was a living, breathing responsibility. It required commitment, work, patience, money, and care—every single day. 

So my parents came up with a plan. 

If I really wanted a horse, I needed to prove it. They told me I had to earn half of the purchase price of my own horse. For an eight-year-old, that was a pretty big challenge. But they underestimated one thing. I was determined. 

So I went to work. 

I had a paper route. I babysat. I sold cards door to door throughout the neighborhood. I looked for every opportunity I could find to earn another dollar toward my horse. And then I discovered another source of income—empty bottles. I learned that bottles could be turned in for deposit money, and suddenly every bottle I saw looked like another step toward my dream. I collected them wherever I could, including the local city park. I didn’t think much about where the bottles came from. I was eight years old, and I had a goal. 

Apparently, I was becoming a little too successful at it. 

One day, my parents discovered that their daughter was dumpster diving through the trash cans at the city park, collecting bottles for deposit money. That was probably the moment they realized just how serious I was. I wasn’t going to quit. I wasn’t going to lose interest. And I wasn’t simply asking them to buy me a horse. I was willing to work for one. I was willing to prove that I understood what commitment meant. 

That’s when my parents knew. 

They told me I had earned enough money for the horse of my dreams. And that horse was Penny. 

Penny was my first heart horse. She was much more than the horse I wanted as an eight-year-old little girl. She became the horse who changed the direction of my life. Penny taught me lessons that reached far beyond the barn. She taught me patience. She taught me responsibility. She taught me trust. She taught me courage and confidence. She taught me communication without words. She taught me compassion. And perhaps most importantly, she taught me how powerful it can be to simply be present with another living being. 

With Penny, I began learning how to listen—not just with my ears, but with my eyes, my heart, and my instincts. 

I learned that horses don’t care how important I think I am. They don’t care about titles, accomplishments, or appearances. They respond to who I am in the moment. They teach me to slow down. To pay attention. To try again. To earn trust rather than demand it. And to understand that a relationship is built one interaction at a time. 

I was only eight years old, so I didn’t realize that these were lessons I would carry for the rest of my life. 

I just knew I loved my horse. But sometimes the most important lessons we ever learn begin long before we understand why they matter. 

Decades later, I would look back and realize that Penny wasn’t simply the beginning of my life with horses. She was the beginning of my life’s work.The little girl who worked a paper route, babysat, sold cards door to door, and searched city park trash cans for bottles could never have imagined what that determination would eventually become. There was no Natural Freedom Wellness Center in my mind back then. There was no vision of reaching families, youth, adults, or communities. There was no dream of bringing the wisdom of horses to people who needed connection, confidence, healing, hope, or a different way of seeing themselves. 

There was just Penny. And an eight-year-old girl who knew she belonged with horses. 

But those early lessons stayed with me. They became part of who I was. And eventually, they became part of what I wanted to share with others. Through Natural Freedom Wellness Center, the wisdom I first began learning from Penny has reached across 13 counties in southeastern Ohio and touched the lives of thousands of youth, adults, and families. The horses became teachers. The relationships became opportunities for growth. And the lessons I first learned as a little girl became a way to help others discover something within themselves. Confidence. Trust. Connection. Compassion. Courage. Hope. Sometimes I wonder if Penny ever could have known what she started. She never walked these hills. She never knew Natural Freedom Wellness Center. She never saw the people whose lives would eventually be touched by the work that began with her. She never knew that the relationship between one little girl and one horse would eventually become part of something much bigger. But I believe she is still here.  

She lives in every lesson shared. She lives in every child who finds confidence beside a horse. She lives in every person who discovers that they can try again. She lives in every moment when someone learns to communicate without words. She lives in every connection between horse and human. And she lives in the heart of that eight-year-old girl who never stopped believing that horses were where she was meant to be. 

 

And to my parents— thank you. 

Thank you for believing in me, even when you weren’t quite sure where my obsession with horses would lead. Thank you for making me work for Penny. At the time, you were teaching me about responsibility and commitment. You wanted to know that I was serious. You wanted me to understand that loving a horse meant more than wanting to ride one. You wanted me to prove that I was willing to work. And I did. What you couldn’t possibly have known was that the lessons you were teaching me would become part of the foundation for the rest of my life. You didn’t just help an eight-year-old girl get her first horse. You helped set me on a path. A path that would eventually lead to Natural Freedom Wellness Center. A path that would touch thousands of lives. A path that would take us across 13 counties and into the hearts of countless youth, adults, families, and horses. All because one little girl insisted that she needed to be with horses. And one horse named Penny showed me why. 

 

Penny was the horse that started it all. Not Natural Freedom. Not the programs. Not the center. Not the vision. Penny. She was there first. Long before I knew what my life’s work would become, she was teaching me the very lessons I would one day share with others. And perhaps that is the most beautiful part of the story. Sometimes we don’t know we’re standing at the beginning of our life’s greatest chapter. Sometimes we’re just eight years old, picking bottles out of a city park trash can because we believe with our whole heart that we need a horse. Sometimes a dream begins with a paper route, a babysitting job, a stack of cards, and a stubborn little girl who refuses to give up. And sometimes, that dream becomes a life’s purpose. Penny was where it all began. And I will be forever grateful that she was mine.  

Forever grateful, Penny.