The Equina Way. The path I discovered in my recovery from my back breaking horse fall.

 

 

This powerful collage captures the complete arc of Rachel’s remarkable comeback story—from the hospital bed where her young daughter, Julia, kept vigil after the devastating fall, through her creative healing journey of painting horses while confined to a body brace, to her triumphant return to the saddle and competition arena. The central image, bathed in warm golden light with the words “jumping for joy…” overlaid on a silhouette of horse and rider, symbolizes the heart of her transformation—how she literally rode through her pain to reclaim the dreams she’d abandoned at sixteen. Surrounding this are snapshots of her competing again, clearing jumps with confidence and grace, interspersed with her vibrant horse paintings in blues, greens, and dramatic reds that she created during those bedridden months when visualization and artistic expression became her lifeline. Each image tells part of the story: the lowest moment in the hospital, the meditative practice of painting that kept hope alive, and the ultimate victory of not just surviving but thriving—back in the arena, jumping again, living proof that when the goal becomes bigger than the pain, anything is possible.