Tribute Equine Nutrition® is proud to sponsor Laurietta Oakleaf at the 2010 World Equestrian Games. Here is her story:

My name is Laurietta Oakleaf and I am 30 years old. I have GBS, CIDP, Fibromyalgia, Epilepsy, and possibly MS. I have chronic pain and weakness in my legs and arms and wear full leg braces. I have recently been diagnosed with bone cancer and stage IV mantle cell lymphoma.

I have been on horses since I was 13, but had to earn and buy my horse, which was not broke and knew nothing. Against everyone's better judgment, I kept him and decided to try to break him. After a daily uphill battle of many bruises and broken bones, I finally gentled him enough to win a show a month later. Everyone was so shocked because they had told me to give up on this horse. My riding career started! I kept learning and headed for Florida. I was on the show jumping circuit until I got injured and was paralyzed completely. I thought my career with horses was over.

I was then overcome with a serious illness, called Guillian-Barre Syndrome, which put me in the hospital unable to breathe or move a muscle. I fought for 18 months after doctors told me I would never walk again. I rode under BriarHedge Handicap Therapy program out of Lima, OH and eventually started to move a muscle, one by one. I started to walk again, but in full leg braces. I then had another attack and was told I had CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy). I was devastated. I had worked so hard just to have it all taken away. I decided at that point that I would just keep working to keep walking. I fought through every attack and every time I didn't quite get back to where I was before, but I was always walking again and always riding horses.

On the internet, I saw a sport called ParaEquestrian Driving and decided I wanted to try it. I bought a mare that had been horribly abused. This horse taught me to really ride again and train. I decided I wanted to breed this mare and this is when I met my business partner, Joanne Bosma. She owned a Friesian stallion. After a couple months of training, we sent him to the Netherlands for approval.

I trained under Monty Roberts at the Monty Roberts International Learning Center. I was greatly honored that he allowed me to come to his school and train. Since then, I have trained many stallions and thank Monty every day for showing me some ways of training that worked and were easy to use, especially for someone disabled.

I have since taken my training to levels of trick training and liberty training. Last year, I did some jumper shows trying to get this approved for the ParaEquestrian sport and natural horsemanship. I ride competitively on an Andalusian stallion, Quimerico, who is also trick trained.

I am now riding two dressage stallions and competing in FEI CPEDI International competitions and trying out for the 2010 World Equestrian Games!