The South Marysburgh Mirror Sharing an Opportunity to Forge a Special Relationship Even though Gigi is getting up there at the ripe age of 22, she’s still a knockout. Marley is a younger 14 or 15 and is clearly most interested in lunch. Sunshine at 16 tosses her head like she’s the boss, which she is. Younger Leo is the most pre- cocious, boundlessly curious and unafraid to go face to face with strangers, if they'll let him. Despite their various differ- ences, they have one thing in common. They are rehabili- tating at a place where they can be...well, just happy hors- es. These four are the compan- ions of South Bay resident Hol- lie Graham who has such a special relationship with horses that she wants others to feel the same sense of calm and connection. Anative of Lindsay, Ontario, Hollie married into the County. Her husband, Peter, grew up here. After meeting in Ottawa and marrying at Archway Con- nection in Demorestville, they decided to raise their family here. Peter is an artist who also turns his hand to wood- working and home construc- tion. When she is not sprinting after their almost three-year- old, Hollie is caring for and nur- turing her horses. “Horses react to things the same way humans do,” Hollie Hollie Graham with (from the left) Sunshine, Leo and Marley. - Mirror Photo says, “they mirror back sen- sitivities.” For that and other rea- sons, Hollie believes in the importance of caring for her horses in a sense of harmo- ny. That means she interacts with them with respect and understanding. She says her companions will reflect the same back to her. Hollie says that she has always had a natural affinity for horses. And, as a young- ster, she asked for a horse every year, but never got one. In fact, she was an adult before she got the chance to have an upfront and close relationship with horses. After leasing her friends’ horse, she finally decided to take a riding les- son. It was a tipping point and a few weeks later she brought Marley, a six year old former trail riding horse, into her world. “Marley and | went through a lot together,” she said, explaining that asa child and young adult, she suffered from debilitating panic attacks. In the early days of having Marley, those panic attacks sometimes would mean that Hollie would be sitting in the saddle shaking uncontrolla- bly. “Marley could feel my anxiety and she would react to it...and not in a positive way,” Hollie confessed. It was at odds with her feeling of affinity with horses. So Hollie set out to find a new way of interacting with Marley. One of the ave- (Continued on page 8) A special moment with Marley. —Mirror Photo The South Marysburgh Mirror November 2021 Volume 35 Published monthly by Barbara McConnell, 41 St. Philip Street, PO Box 131, Milford, ON KOK 2P0 T: 613.471.1816 Number 11 E: themirror@kos.net W: www.southmarysburghmirror.com ISSN Number 1181-6333 (Print Edition) ISSN Number 2292-5708 (Online Edition) The South Marysburgh Mirror gratefully acknowledges the support of the South Marysburgh Recreation Committee, the South Marysburgh Fair Board, and St. Philips A.C.W.