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72 SIDELINES JUNE 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE

Lauren shows off her medals

Photo by Raymond Smith.

D R E S S A G E

The

By Jan Westmark L

auren Barwick is the kind of person who would have inspired and motivated others to achieve their dreams no matter how her life turned out. Lauren grew up in Canada and started riding at a young age. She was involved in Pony Club, three-day eventing, foxhunting and jumpers. “I couldn’t really make up my mind about what I wanted to pursue as a career, I only knew I loved the world of horses. I finally decided I wanted to focus on the movie industry, specializing in horses,” Lauren said.  “I worked at a studio ranch for six months, in an apprentice program, learning about and caring for the stunt horses and doing special skills work in feature films such as The Pledge. I also had an agent and was doing a lot of movie extra work and auditioning for bigger parts.  At the end of the program, I was hired to work at the ranch full time.”

While Lauren thought her path was set, that all changed in an instant on July 17, 2000. While feeding the horses at the studio ranch, a 100-pound bale of hay fell ten feet and landed on her back. “I had two broken vertebras and a severed spinal cord.  It took two screws, a bar, wire mesh and bone from my hip to reassemble my back.  I was left paralyzed from the belly button down, with no feeling or movement,” she said.

 In addition to Lauren’s own devastation of dealing with her life-changing accident, her parents were