This Young Teen's Teaching Kids (and Adults) To Think Big and Move Mountains

Walking up to the one of the practice rings at the Devon Horse Show grounds, it’s hard not to be  taken by the petite girl with a big smile and big energy that has captivated a crowd of girls and their parents.

Lizzy Traband is showing the girls how she does all kinds of tricks while riding her horses at full gallop.  She breaks the moves down on a horse that’s not moving while encouraging the girls listening with rapt attention to pursue their dreams.

Lizzy Traband’s dreams are coming true every day. She lives on her parents' horse farm near State College, PA and has her own horse training and riding business,  Taiji Horsemanship. It's a business she started with her mom Annette.

On her website Traband says Taiji literally means "Achieving your 'supreme ultimate' as a result of perfect balance and harmony."  "This is the goal that I have every day, when I work with my horses! With Taiji Horsemanship, I hope to help others find perfect balance and harmony with their horses!"

Achieving perfect balance is something that comes a little differently for Lizzy.  What the girls and parents in the crowd watching her demonstration don’t all notice at first is that she was born with no left hand. Traband doesn’t hide the fact, but it’s a non-issue for her.

In the sport of bridleless trick riding, where Lizzy has been making a name for herself since a young age, balance is key.  Her mother Annette says being born with only one hand may have, in an odd way, been a blessing in disguise.   She says riders sometimes use their hands to find balance, which is not good  horsemanship. For Lizzy, it's just not an option.

Choosing your mindset is an option for anyone. That’s Lizzy’s unspoken message to the crowd of girls watching in awe as she stands, rides, jumps and poses during her demonstration at at the Devon Horse Show grounds.

Wide eyes, oohs and awes for a girl their own age is something Lizzy sees often. The young girls see a talented trick rider with only one hand and suddenly horizons expand and possibilities open up in their minds.  Her website describes "The Taji Horsemanship Journey" as “Face challenges, prepare to move mountains.”

Each girl in the crowd goes home with a gift bag from Lizzy Traband and Taiji Horsemanship that includes a Taiji Horsemanship pendant and Lizzy's own equestrian coloring book that serves as reminders of the Taiji message.

This visit to Devon was Lizzy Traband’s way of saying thank you to the organizers of the first ever BVSS show. “I really wanted to give something back,” she explains, “everybody running this show is absolutely amazing so I wanted to come and do some performing and get some kids there.”

Saying thank you to the equestrian community and the community at large is important to the young star, especially to her friends who asked her to help support the first Brandywine Valley Summer Series. “Normally when I perform we do expos and clinics and we’ll do nighttime shows. But this was an occasion when I really felt that I needed to give back and I’m very happy to be here.”

It’s an attitude and gratitude that keep a young trick rider with skills and showmanship beyond her years in balance.