VICTORY STABLES RIDE FOR THE CURE

BY HANA VOZZO

On October 9th, 2023, Victory Stables, located in Colts Neck, New Jersey, participated i n Ride for the Cure, an equestrian event to raise money for the Komen Foundation, which supports breast cancer research. The annual ride takes place in Vermont, but when 13-year-old Suhaila O’Dowd was scrolling through the Dover Saddlery website, looking for a new saddle to try to convince her parents to buy her for her birthday, she saw an advertisement for the Ride for the Cure event scheduled to take place in about a week’s time and wondered if she and her riding coach, Adele Sessa, could organize a New Jersey ride for the next year.

T his cause is one that is close to home for the O’Dowd family, as Suhaila’s mother Nasheela, currently cancer-free, was diagnosed with breast cancer when Suhaila was 11 years old. Suhaila found out this life-altering news during the already chaotic quarantine days, and it marked the start of a difficult journey for her and her family. Having encountered many unknowns at such a young age, Nasheela smiled while remembering how her daughter handled everything with grace and kindness. Nasheela and Adele de - scribe Suhaila as a respectful, mature, sincere, and appreciative young woman with a heart o f gold. Riding since second grade, Suhaila has an immense passion for horses, riding, and competitive equestrianism. While she has only been riding with Adele at Victory Stables for about 18 months, her coach observed how she “fit right in with the other riders” and won reserved championship titles at one of her first showings in New York.

S uhaila has always told her mom that she wanted to do something to raise money for breast cancer awareness, but her mom was not yet re ady to tell her story. Nasheela often wondered when she w ould be ready, but when her daughter told her about Ride for the Cure, she said that “it felt like a sign from God” because the event deals with t wo significant things in their lives: breast cancer awareness and horses. While many p eople solely focus on the impacts breast cancer has on the w omen diagnosed, it also has a major influence on the person’s family and friends. Accordingly, Nasheela ultimately re alized that this was not only her story to tell, as she received wise advice from a friend on the matter of telling her story, which she shared with Suhaila to encourage her to follow through with her plan to organize the ride. She said “With traumatic illnesses comes post-traumatic stress, so my friend told me that a way to transform your post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth is by telling your story and making the experience meaningful. I realized that Suhaila needed to do the Ride for the Cure to give meaning to the indescribable trauma she went through.”

W ith this in mind, Suhaila describes how her love for horses and horseback riding kept her sane through tumultu - ous times and provided her with a way to heal, as she wants to spread awareness and raise money for breast cancer re search so that no one else has to go through what her mom and family experienced. Her mother notes that she “feels humbled by the passion, drive, and inspiration that Suhaila has, especially at 13,” a nd she is proud of the way she lives her life, leading with kindness. That’s why, when she saw the advertisement, Suhaila messaged Adele, who responded, “That’s great! Let’s do it… let’s organize it!” Suhaila and Adele laughed as they retold the s tory because when Suhaila sent the message only a week before the scheduled d ate of the ride, she expected Adele to help her coordinate their participation in the ride for next year, but even when her coach realized the press for time she said “Wow, that’s next week! Forget it. We can do this; let’s organize it.” And although Suhaila is a relatively new rider at the barn, when she sent out the text asking if the other riders would be interested, they responded within 30 minutes, which really showed her the depth of the love and support in the barn community. Nasheela said it made her realize just how much Adele and the other riders care for her child, and “as a mother, there is no greater gift in life than to know that your child has found that kind of community.”

S uhaila and her mother spoke glowingly about Adele, as they described how s he creates a fantastic culture and com - munity at Victory Stables because she really cares about the entire child. Suhaila explained how she not only rides b ut also Irish dances, plays volleyball, and goes to school, and Adele supports all these aspects of her life. Her mother said, “You think you’re just going for horseback riding, and Adele builds these kids for life!” When speaking with Adele, she shared that when she saw Suhaila’s message, she felt this was something she needed to help her do because at 13 years old, Adele almost lost her riding instructor and mentor Maddy Grae to breast cancer. She explains that growing up in the barn, Maddy was like a second mom to Adele, so it was very important to both her and Suhaila to participate in this ride. Describing her as “the salt of the earth,” Adele is amazed by Suhaila’s integrity and desire to make a difference in the world.

W ith this, Suhaila and Adele organized the ride that took place on October 9 th in only a week’s time. The ride consisted of seven riders: Hailey Black, Josephine Cassidy, Abigail Matthews, Margaret Smulewitz, Audrey Sousa, Caitlynn Tobin, and Suhaila O’Dowd, while Adele coached from the sidelines. The event went from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the riders starting at Victory Stables, where they s addled up the horses and decorated them with pink accessories, and ending at Buck

Mills Park, where they finished the ride and enjoyed pizza and soft drinks. Adele described how even t he sky seemed to reflect the wonderful cause they supported, as it was a b eautiful pink that morning. The goal for the entire Ride for Cure organization was $51,000, a nd the Victory Stables team raised $5,712 in total, which amounts to 11% of the organization’s total goal! The team was recognized for their galvanizing support of the c ause at the Colts Neck town hall meeting on November 8th, 2023.

R eflecting on the ride’s success, Adele said, “Wow, could you imagine what we could do in a year?!” Both she and Suhaila hope to make this an annual event; their goal is to reach out to local barns and the Colts Neck Trail Riders Club for next year. When asked what Suhaila is looking forward to for next year’s ride, she l aughed as she said, “to give people more than a week’s notice,” because, as Adele noted, there was tremendous interest in the event, but some riders were unable to attend due to the short notice. With the help of her community, Suhaila was able to transform her Post Traumatic Stress into Post Traumatic Growth, as she, Adele, and the other riders raised money for the cause and joined the fight against breast cancer. Suhaila hopes that others can look to her story and feel inspired; she wants people to know that they too can become the authors of their own stories and make a difference in the world at a ny age.