This is no ordinary search for funding. While that is much needed, it’s the story I am about to share is more important. It's a story of friendship, passion, dedication and healing; it's also a story of suffering, deceit, struggle and wounds that will take a very long time to heal.

   As far back as I can remember, horses have been a part of my life. I did and gave everything possible to be a part of that elite world. The funny thing was it was never about the status; it is a love for a sport so unique that few can ever say they have mastered it. I started teaching riding lessons when I was 14 years old, not realizing the importance of what I was actually doing. I wasn't able to see that I wasn't just some instructor... I was a mentor, giving others that part of me that was so vital to my soul. Over the years, I learned more, took on more responsibilities, and had the great fortune of seeing the fruit of my labor. I recognized how horses saved me, and I was unknowingly saving others through my work. The friendships forged in those barns run deeper than blood and are eternal, and the bonds created with the animals cannot be matched.

   A little over two years ago, my best friend and I decided that we were tired of working for someone else, someone who didn't share our values, who cared more about the money than what our riding school meant to its students. Someone who couldn't see that what we had was no ordinary business; it was a sanctuary. A place for people to escape reality on the back of a horse, leave their troubles and worries behind them and be truly at peace for a few moments.

   In March 2020, the world changed. The Covid pandemic left a hole in the existence of humanity, isolating people from their loved ones and locking them in boxes to be afraid to risk getting sick. But we had an escape. We had a place that almost sheilded us from the rest of the world, a place where kids could still go, be outside without masks, away from their electronics and confined spaces. It was then my best friend and I took the plunge. We found a little stable tucked away by the name of Serenity Ranch; the name inspired us to name our business as it encompassed exactly what we had been looking for: peace. With a lot of work, sleepless nights, and stress, we finally secured a lease on what we believed to be a little piece of paradise we never knew existed. I was 38 years old, he was 45, and it was a dream come true for us. 

   We gave our all those first few months, and we did it with pride; we opened doors for people who didn't even know this world existed, and it was glorious! My best friend  was finally able to give his daughter her own horse, something that was unfathomable just months before. I was still mourning the loss of my last equine partner, with little hope of ever finding his equal. When one fine day, a big beautiful horse showed up at my gate. It wasn't his looks that drew me to him, it was his eyes. Eyes I had seen before. Eyes that had looked into mine through the best and the worst times. It seemed like this horse was sent to me because the one who had those eyes before him knew a storm was coming, and I would need the kind of love and support that only a horse can give.

    The storm came in unexpectedly in the form of our landlords Valerio and Mary; at first encounter they presented themselves as sweet elderly couple who wanted nothing but the best for us. I’ll never forget Valerio saying to us “it’s almost like you were sent to us by God as an answer to our prayers.” To this day I’m not sure what exactly he was praying for… victims to torture, slaves, puppets to manipulate and mock.  It didn’t take long for our “God sent paradise” to  become the darkest circle of hell imaginable. (Dante’s inferno claims there are 9 circles, I assure you there are 10). We tried to keep the peace by going above and beyond, we treated these people and their horses like royalty catering to their every whim. Again we were fooled, the kind gestures my friend and I did in became obligations, those obligations became law, and with every passing day the freedom and “Serenity” we had fought so hard for was ripped out from under us.  

   Valerio made fun of us behind our backs, spread lies, and would tell anyone who would listen that our failure was imminent and that “he gave us six months before we went under”. We tried to brush it all off, but reality was it was eating away at us. As the first year ended, we thought there was no possible way things could get worse. Man, were we wrong. Not only were we robbed of our peace but our privacy as well. To make matters worse the construction company Lennar bought the adjacent 44 acres and began to build a slew of cookie cutter homes literally 7 feet away from our arena. In an effort to find the silver lining I used the construction as an exercise in desensitizing our horses; but that too took its toll. As I’m sure most people don’t know I am On the autism spectrum and the sounds of the machinery triggered the most intense panic attacks I have ever experienced. No one including myself understood what was happening to me and why I was deteriorating so quickly.  Things with my best friend began to change as well. Like two caged animals being starved and tortured by our captors, we began to turn on each other. Each fight became worse than the last, and with each one, our anger and cruelty towards each other grew stronger. We had been through rough times before, but nothing like this. But that was not the worst part; the truly devastating part was that while we were busy trying to slash each other's throats, a silent enemy made its way into our midst one that consumed us both mentally and physically.  I first noticed it one day as I looked at this man who was once my hero, a robust and fearless force whose presence was enough to make the world stop and pay its respect. My real life version of Hercules, an undefeatable warrior whose name alone instilled fear in the very core of any man. Without warning, from one day to the next, he was gone... a shell of what he once was; meek, subservient.. his vision and passion for life were gone. The raging fire that ignited him had smoldered. I too was an unstoppable force once, brave, determined and ambitious. It felt as if  that was another life and a person i no longer knew. I had become consumed by my own demons, and the mental health issues that I once viewed as super powers, became my kryptonite and consumed entire being. Depression and anxiety drove me to the point of not wanting to live...

"Where did we go?" I'd ask myself every day. Where did my hero go? Where did my strength go? And the answer was right in front of our faces. We had become slaves to the people we thought were our saviors. For two long years, we gave up our lives, our identities and our freedom because we wanted to keep the oasis alive for others to be able to escape. We fought through the economic recession, which only added to our stress. And to top the sundae off with a cherry, the knowledge that soon enough our lease would end and if we didn't figure something out, all that work, stress and suffering would have been for nothing because we had no where left to go. it became clear that Valerio took pleasure in taunting us, knowing full well that he and he alone held our future in his hands. That he could make us or break us on a whim.... he demanded a $12,000 deposit for the renewal and attempted to impose a 77% increase on our rent. We went back and forth using every legal resource available till he finally yielded to something manageable, but by then the damage was irreparable. My friend was ready to throw in the towel and shut it down. This brought on a whole new set of anxieties and fears that consumed what little was left of me. What were we to do? The night we decided that there was no other choice but to renew for another year was one of the most devastating nights I've ever lived. I cried and cried till there were no more tears; I lay in bed feeling as if my heart had been torn from my chest and that my soul would never be the same. I don't know what or how my friend felt that night, and I don't think I could bear knowing. All I had was infinite sadness.... and the little oasis we struggled to keep alive for the people who depended on us.

The next day, I received a call from a friend asking me if we had signed and renewed... I tried my hardest to hold back tears as I told her we didn't have a choice and would have to do so. Then it happened, the veil of darkness was lifted, and a ray of hope began to shine through..; she offered to lease us her property! It wasn’t just any property, it was my home, the  property that made me the person, rider and trainer I am today. The same place where this one of a kind friendship was forged. 

The property owner had her own reservations and winds as she too had been burned two years prior by the cruelty and spite of her previous tenant. She too had to heal from the damage he had caused both to her property and as a person.

You may wonder what exactly you are donating to... the restoration of hope. To the proof that even the darkest nights end. You are donating to strenthening two people who have been bulldozed by circumstance. An opportunity to  find our strength and dreams again, and most of all, reclaim our freedom. As the days draw closer to our being able to leave this place and start our lives over again, please know that your donation is going to the noblest of causes... Love. Love of a sport, Love of an animal, Love of the person who stuck by in the darkest hour. True friendship is the kind that you'll find once in a lifetime if you're lucky. Any little bit helps, and I hope, in return, our story can be of help to someone else, a reminder that the darkness doesn't last forever and keeping faith and being persistent is the only way out of it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and those who can and want to help us financially will not go unnoticed and we will be forever grateful for the contribution towards our dream.

UPDATE:

It’s been a little over a month since we left and restarted our lives in a more peaceful environment. Little by little we are finding the strength to do all the things we originally dreamed of. We have acquired some new animals to give the barn life beyond just horses and create an environment that is unique. We have an abundance of projects on the horizon including the equine therapy program I have always wanted. The future is looking brighter than ever and our spirits and ambitions are almost fully restored. Our goal remains the same as there is much to be done mainly the goal of building the necessary obstacles to become of the first eventing barn in Miami. We plan to take our horses and riders to their first event in April 2023. Please keep us in your thoughts and keep sharing our story. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated and we have put them to good use, good deeds and keeping our hope alive. Another huge thanks to all our supporters and any future ones as well.