When I first met Cheryl Ash, about nine years ago, even my little fifteen year-old self couldn't deny that she was a force to be reckoned with.  A wiry, petite lady who you'll only occasionally find in something other than riding breeches, Cheryl has a way of being a friend and someone you fear all at the same time...particularly when it comes down to horses.

This is not to say she's in any way mean or scarey.  On the contrary, she's very kind, giving, and the first person to help you when you need it.  But she's very particular on how her horses are treated and ridden.  For a saucy teenager who knew everything about riding, she certainly put me in my place enough times to make me learn the way I should do things.  And that way has proven to be to the horse's best interest, and now that I'm a professional in the field myself, to my clients' best interest.

And the lesson she exemplifies to her own core?  You have to have a passion for what you do in order to be in this equine industry.  And Cheryl certainly does.  In the year's I've known her, Cheryl has been through everything you can think of, all trying to get to the same goal...the FEI levels of dressage.  Her body has failed her as she's had to take time off for her wrist, her back, and now RA.  Her horses have failed her with their own physical limitations, one with an opinionated protest that should would not climbed the levels of dressage and another with a deadly, freakish neurological disorder.  Yet still she climbs on her mare whenever she can, rides through the pains of her body.  When asked by family and friends who note her hobbling around the barn in pain why she's still doing this, she answers "I may be selfish, but I just want to ride".  After over thirty years in the industry, she rides not just for that FEI dream or because its fun or easy but because she still wants to get in every ride she can.

It takes a passion to do what Cheryl does every day...to get up at 5am (or 4...on the busy days), deal with the the human body's limitations, listen to the clients' concerns about things that may or may not have anything to do with horses, and then ride, whether that ride is good or bad, to finish with a smile and still love it all.  She teaches her students that they too can achieve their goals, and works to develop that passion for horses she sees in each.

Now take that lesson in passion she exemplifies beyond the riding arena.  Take it to life, and imagine what we could do if we got up every day and did all we could no matter how our bodies protested.  No matter what illness got those around us down.  No matter who we lost or what we gained.  If we lived with a passion for what we did and worked to do our best at it.  That would be a nation that was inspired.  That would be a nation that left the TV's behind to go do something.  To be something.