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Rousing STAR, Petr testimonials of success

April 23, 2025 by Alan Sloan

In making a case about the huge benefits many have enjoyed at Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding — started 38 years ago by a determined 1975 Farragut High School graduate with a vision — soak in the words of Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Jim O’Brien.

“I believe in STAR because of the impact that I’ve seen on my fellow veterans over these 15 years that I’ve been here,” said O’Brien, a STAR volunteer, during a video shown to hundreds attending the 20th Annual Bridles & Blue Jeans STAR fundraiser Saturday evening, April 12, at the academy, located between Farragut and Lenoir City. “The transformation that I’ve witnessed is near miraculous. Three of the riders that I know personally were suicidal the day they walked in the door.” They are no longer suicidal.

“God put something in a horse that allows the animal to relate to human beings and likewise humans to horses.”

A majority of STAR participants have physical and/or mental disabilities. “It has given him something of his very own; it’s not the rest of the family; it’s not his three brothers,” one mother of a STAR participant said in the video. “It’s his time and he loves it.”

“That’s something she could be proud of because of her friends who play softball or basketball,” another parent said about her daughter’s positive therapy. “Not very many of them were riding horses.”

Honoring Petr

Living with Cushing’s

April 23, 2025 by Cindy Wilfert

The space under the bed was so low that Pippin had to duck, even with his short dachshund legs. But he was determined to hide. I would crouch beside the bed and peer underneath, trying to coax him out. But he trembled with fear.

He had become afraid of the washing machine. It was a new behavior, though the machine and the sounds hadn’t changed. He also developed separation anxiety, especially if he was left alone in the evenings. We’d come home to find him crying and panting heavily as if he’d been upset for hours.

The panting became an issue. He’d seem particularly anxious at the dinner table. His hunger was insatiable and he always begged for more. He might also have been drinking more water and wanting to go out for more frequent potty breaks, but he was 13 years old. We chalked it up to age-related changes and the heat of summer.

Melody’s Topgolf ‘Make-A-Wish’ greeting; prayer

April 23, 2025 by

Melody is an 8-year-old girl from Harriman suffering from craniopharyngioma, which is rare, slow-growing, noncancerous brain tumors. After a warm welcome from Topgolf Knoxville employees, who held its first Make-A-Wish East Tennessee send-off at its 11400 Outlet Drive location in Farragut earlier this spring, Melody showed lots of maturity and religious gratefulness by insisting on leading a prayer before this special greeting was over. Melody’s granted wish sent her to Destin, Florida, earlier this month to swim and play in the ocean. “She has fought her condition like a champ,” a Topgolf Knoxville press release stated, adding she was excited “to share time at the beach with her parents and sister, Jasmine.