128 SIDELINES MARCH 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Sidelines Shout Out
Spirit
The
of a
Survivor
By Dani Moritz
T
he word “incredible” is hardly sufficient to describe
64-year-old BettyAnn Kolba’s story. In fact, I honestly
cannot fathom a word to describe her undying devotion
to horses, her spirit, her strength and her determination.
BettyAnn is one of those rare people who can go through hell
without blinking, who has unwavering faith and who epitomizes
kindness.
When I began chatting with BettyAnn, our conversations
were simple. She had been selected as Sidelines’ January
mascot – so we exchanged some basic information and I asked
her some questions. When I realized she lives close to my
family home near Chicago, we decided we would meet in person
at Jaynesway Farms in Bartlett, Illinois, where she keeps her
beautiful mare and fellow Sidelines mascot, Brandi. She even
offered the opportunity to ride Brandi and who could turn down
such an offer?
Upon meeting BettyAnn, I quickly realized she is so much
more than a successful adult amateur who happened to win our
contest with her adorable photo of Brandi showcasing the mare’s
“cover girl smile.”
This is the story of a woman I am honored to have had the
opportunity to meet. Although I may have only met her a few
months ago, I consider her a friend, a mentor and a role model –
and I know many of you will also after reading her story.
The Very Beginning
As a four-year-old little girl, BettyAnn became obsessed with
drawing the same picture. Every day through college she would
pick up her drawing materials and bring to life the same chestnut
horse with a big white blaze and four white legs. Little did she
know that one day her dreams would become reality and she
would be face-to-face with the horse she had illustrated for all
those years. But that fateful meeting would not be for years to
come, for this is the beginning of her story.
BettyAnn was not born into the horse world. Like many other
first generation horsemen and women, BettyAnn’s passion for
horses was, to put it kindly, peculiar to her normal parents who
didn’t understand the drive to trade relaxing weekends for early
mornings and manure-filled wheel barrows.
During a Sunday country drive with her dad, BettyAnn (then
five-years-old) spotted a horse show from the car. As she hung
tightly to her window, she watched in awe as a beautiful bay
BettyAnn and Brandi
Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography
Continued on page 130
