I now have more hope than I ever had before.

Before I joined Bridle Up Hope, I struggled with my confidence and self-worth. I also really struggled with connecting with other people. I had little hope things would improve, and I just accepted that was how life was.

Then, a few months later, I was surprised with Bridle Up Hope for Christmas which sent me over the moon. Going to Bridle Up Hope had been a dream of mine since 2019, but a few months before Christmas, I had given up on the dream and accepted that it would never happen until it did.

I was super excited to start my first lesson but also slightly nervous since I had planned to go to the girl's service hours and art class after my lesson. I knew there would be other students there, and I was terrified, but soon Bridle Up Hope became my favorite place to go, and I started getting comfortable there.

Although I started feeling more confident at Bridle Up Hope, I was still struggling outside of it, and that's when my fantastic instructor Hannah, all the horses, and the people of Bridle Up Hope and the Seven Habits came into play. All the habits helped me, but the habits that stood out most to me were Habit 1: Be proactive, Habit 3: Put first things first, and Habit 6: Synergize. Habit one helped with many things but mostly helped me with the Circle of Control. The Circle of Control helped tame my anxious thoughts, so I controlled them instead of them controlling me. Habit 3: Put First Things First, also helped me in so many ways, but again there was one part of the habit that really stood out to me: coming out of your comfort zone and into your courage zone.

The habits and Hannah's encouragement gave me the confidence to start learning to drive and do things that may scare me. Lastly, the habit that helped me the most but was also the most difficult was Habit 6: synergize.

As I stated previously, I have never been good at connecting with people. I avoided others as much as I could. While learning about Habit 6, I got slightly annoyed because connecting with others is not something I ever wanted to do, but Hannah and Fezzik showed me how important it was to connect with others. So I started to get more involved with what was happening around me, and I became more social. If it were not for Hannah and Fezzik, I would probably be in the same negative social mindset I was before. After I finished the program, I saw such a vast difference in myself, and others did too.

I now have self-worth, confidence and all my social skills have improved immensely, and most of all, I now have more hope than I ever had before, and I know I can make it through anything, even if it is hard.

- Girl's Experience Participant