03.10.09 The Courage of Two
A young girl's dreams of showing her horse and having a farm named "Courage Meadows" came to a crashing halt early in her young career. Heather Dilts Baiano struggled long and hard to earn the respect of her horse and live the life she had always dreamed of living. And one day, in a horrific car accident, it all came to a halt. This is Heather's story.

As a young girl, Heather sat in school dreaming of the day she would grow up to have her own farm to be called "Courage Meadows". After working hard mucking stalls and working three jobs to support her first horse, a morgan gelding named Debson's True Blaze, Heather put herself through Equestrian College and was moving up within the show world with her gelding. And one day, everything she had worked so hard to achieve ended in a horrific car accident that ultimately had her and her husband losing everything they had including her precious Morgan.

The accident Heather was in with her then, six-week old daughter had her receiving major internal injuries, two shattered femurs, broken fingers and a grade-four lacerated liver. She spent months in the hospital with her husband at her side, but ultimately paying the price in the loss of his job, the apartment, the car and yes, the love of her life Debson's True Blaze. Heather was told she would never walk again even with the rods and pins in her legs.

After months of rehabilitation, Heather knew one way or another she had to return to her love of the horses. She spent  months in physio and eventually started therapeutic riding at I C.A.N.T.E.R. in Ridgeway on believe it or not, her previous horse Debson's True Blaze who had been purchased by I C.A.N.T.E.R.

Heather's love for horses and her equine life persisted. With her diligence, the Baiano family was able to lease a farm and begin boarding, training and selling horses. The farm was named after her childhood dream of "Courage Meadows". However, Heather just couldn't seem to bond with another horse like she had Debson's True Blaze until the day her husband brought home a young Morgan colt named Northline Rainmaker.

Raine as he has become known to all, was a weanling that had an injury to his right eye making him almost blind. Heather wondered just what her husband had brought home. Barely halter broke and half blind, the colt was young, wild and terrified. Heather was told not to get her hopes up with this one, but she persisted.

Heather worked with the young weanling, yearling and young horse day in and day out to make it the champion it is today. Her struggles over the years have paid off with many championships at the local level and in the Ontario Morgan Horse Club (OMHC) as well as a 4th place at the Canadian Morgan Horse Association (CMHA) in the Hunter Pleasure class in 2008.

The goals of this young lady are to reach the OMHC championships, the CMHA championships and eventually the World Morgan Championship in Oklahoma. Unfortunately having had to rebuild not only her ability to enjoy life, but her ability to walk and progress, it has been a struggle for the Baiano family. With a supportive husband and two young children, that both ride and enjoy the equine life, Heather's dreams are not always a reality with the hefty price of showing and maintaining a comfortable life.

Her dreams are thus severely hampered in getting Rainmaker to the championships this year due to a restriction on funding. Heather has been offered her fees paid for the shows if she can raise a $1000 in sponsorships for the Ontario Morgan Horse Club this coming year.  To the young Baiano family, this is a huge help as the fees add up, especially with the cost of travelling and shipping the horse. Rainmaker has earned his keep and Heather would like to keep him in the ribbons and proving that challenges can be conquered with a little courage.

For more information on Heather Dilts Baiano and Northline Rainmaker visit http://www.freewebs.com/bheather/index.htm. There are a number of ways to help Heather and Rainmaker make it to the Championship this year. Click here for further details or contact Heather directly at courage_meadows@hotmail.com.