By Kate Poss • Photos by Dave Meyer

Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis early in her life and extremely immunocompromised, seven-year-old Anna Baumgart rarely spoke to others outside of her family until she met Griffin, a horse in Langley’s HOPE Therapeutic Riding Program. For a second-grade school project, Anna submitted a drawing of herself with Griffin. Titled “Being with Griffin,” she described how her relationship with the horse helped her find a place of belonging. “Griffin always listened to me and let me be me,” she wrote. “He helped me in my early days of speaking to people and showed that it is okay to be brave in trying new things.”

Nikki Baumgart, Anna’s mom, first found the HOPE program online over a year ago when searching for a horse-riding opportunity for her daughter. She contacted one of HOPE’s instructors and spoke with them for an hour, seeking assurance that Anna would be safe. Nikki had grown up riding horses in Wisconsin and had told stories to her daughter about her adventures as a young girl. Anna had never actually ridden a horse.