It must be spring. Flowers are peeking their heads out through the dirt, adding some color to our bland winter landscape. It’s time for renewal, birth, warmth from the sunshine, and the promise of warm days ahead. Perfectly appropriate for our focus this month: youth.

I believe we have a responsibility to help young people on their journey to adulthood. In return, we get inexhaustible ideas, energy to try something new, and a license to dream big. What can we learn from the young people around us? What is a young person’s perception of the way things are?

Please let me know your thoughts on how we can preserve our heritage and support organizations such as 4-H that develop our youth into responsible, caring adults. Who is going to take our places? What are your kids telling you they want to contribute? Perhaps our young readers can write in and let me know what they would like to read in the magazine. Should we bring back our youth column, along with advice from Shaboom and Clyde?

This issue is dedicated to our future horsepeople. Please celebrate with us the rediscovery of a young girl's love for horses as Tara Cunningham shares her journey into the world of clinicians and showmanship, then back to the simple love of the horse (see this month's cover story). Read the winning essays from four young people whose horses have taken them to places of imagination, fear, and wisdom beyond their years (see Youth Essay Contest feature). Follow the inspirational story of Jennifer Stout, a young rodeo queen with cystic fibrosis who has the courage to face every challenge head on and never forget those around her.

As for my own challenges, I’m still working on getting a good ride in on a regular basis. I need a nudge from time to time, but I’m making it happen.

Until next month….remember to ride!

Quote of the Month:

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change in attitude."

~Katherine Mansfield