Heather Wallace

For seven years, Sydney Collier enjoyed the life of a happy, active child, with caring, supportive parents and siblings. She ran through sprinklers and played with neighborhood friends. And she fell in love with four-legged animals-especially horses. Her mother encouraged her to ride, and Sydney was good at it, finding herself at home in the saddle. Then a routine eye exam changed everything. Sydney had the incredibly rare Wyburn-Mason Syndrome, a congenital birth defect that causes arteriovenous malformations where the veins in the brain's arteries don't separate as they should from the capillaries. The resulting "clumps" of veins and arteries have increased blood flow and a high risk of aneurysm, and they tend to affect the brain, eye, and facial structures. Fewer than 100 cases of Wyburn-Mason Syndrome have been reported, according to the National Institute of Health, and its rarity means treatment remains controversial and prognosis uncertain. Most diagnoses in infants have been confirmed by pathologists after death. Wyburn-Mason began to take an immediate toll on Sydney's body, first with its effect on her vision, and soon severe physical debilitation and excruciating migraines. Over the next eight years, as she and her family tried treatment after treatment, seeking some sort of hope, the only place where Sydney could escape the almost-constant pain for just a little while was on the back of a horse. During a risky brain surgery in 2009, Sydney suffered a devastating and massive stroke, which inflicted a new level of disability, putting her in a wheelchair. Determined to ride horses again, Sydney entered a rehabilitation center and refused to give up on her goal of one day riding at the high-performance level for the United States. A year later, on a trip with her mother to the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, Sydney had a chance to watch the sport of Para Dressage, and that moment helped finally turn what seemed an overwhelming tide of loss and suffering. A new goal was born: to become a competitor in the Paralympics, and to do it in partnership with the only thing that brought her peace and happiness-horses. This is the story of a brave young woman's journey from the doctors' offices to medal podiums, in her words. Anyone looking for a reason to believe that dreams can be realized, regardless of the odds, will find motivation in these pages.

A memoir detailing a woman's insights about being an anxiety-ridden but passionate equestrian. After returning to riding as a mother, she is determined to follow her dreams despite the fear she is somehow lacking in talent or ability. An in-depth look into the heart and head of a returning adult equestrian, this message is not limited only those with horse experience. In fact, Confessions of a Timid Rider is the perfect book to read for anyone whom even for a moment questions their value in their designated profession or life choice. This book will inspire you to pursue your dreams despite the inner voice that says you aren t good enough.

With the help of the easy-to-follow illustrations found in this book you'll quickly be able to learn how to draw a whole bunch of cats and kittens. For each character, detailed step-by-step illustrations are provided so that you can easily follow along from start to finish. Learning to draw these comical dogs and puppies serves as a great boredom buster for kids as well as adults who love doodling amusing cartoonsThe H. W. Doodles series of drawing books are ideal for beginning artists who would like to learn and improve their drawing skills as well as more advanced artists who are looking to practice and hone the skills that they have already acquired. So, with the help of this drawing book, absolutely anyone will be able to tap into their creative side. These drawings can be completed on paper using drawing implements or, if you prefer to work digitally, then you can use your favorite drawing program instead. Either way, you're sure to have fun drawing all of the adorable cats and kittens found in this book.

With the help of the easy-to-follow illustrations found in this book you'll quickly be able to learn how to draw a whole bunch of dogs and puppies. For each character, detailed step-by-step illustrations are provided so that you can easily follow along from start to finish. Learning to draw these comical dogs and puppies serves as a great boredom buster for kids as well as adults who love doodling amusing cartoonsThe H. W. Doodles series of drawing books are ideal for beginning artists who would like to learn and improve their drawing skills as well as more advanced artists who are looking to practice and hone the skills that they have already acquired. So, with the help of this drawing book, absolutely anyone will be able to tap into their creative side. These drawings can be completed on paper using drawing implements or, if you prefer to work digitally, then you can use your favorite drawing program instead. Either way, you're sure to have fun drawing all of the adorable dogs and puppies found in this book.

This book examines the attitudes of tertiary students in Melanesia and Timor-Leste to national identity and key issues of nation-building. Their views are pivotal to understanding the challenges of building a more cohesive sense of national identity and political community in these states. Melanesian countries show a relatively high degree of similarity in their responses to the surveys on national identity carried out by the authors, but with key differences attributable to particular historical, regional or linguistic legacies of colonial rule. The ongoing importance of traditional authority and kastom/adat in conceptions of political community and identity is evident in all four case study sites, and in each case matches indicators of respect for modern state authority. Although different for each site, the authors’ findings also illustrate the importance of students’ geographical region of origin, language orientation and gender in explaining key differences in attitudes towards national identity. The book demonstrates that strong levels of national identification and pride persist among the future leaders of the countries surveyed, even in the face of ongoing regional and linguistic divisions and weak state capacity, suggesting a strong potential basis for nation-building agendas if wider challenges of democratic performance, service provision and regional development can be addressed over time.