Please keep Emily in your prayers/thoughts as she undergoes brain surgery at MD Anderson.

Emily, 17, got a standing ovation at the 2014 NCHA Futurity when she showed a cutting horse for the first time. After being diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, Emily became part of Western Wishes. Her wish was to ride a cutting horse and through a partnership with NCHA, Western Wishes and Quarter Horse News, she did so during the Association’s premier event, the NCHA Futurity. Emily rode after the last horse in the first set of the Open Finals and wowed the crowd with her talent, strength and determination. Less than 24 hours before the finals, Emily was having repetitive seizures which greatly decreased her chances of being able to ride. She wouldn’t take no for an answer and her words were, “I have to do this.” On Saturday, her seizures ceased and she delivered an incredible performance in the Will Rogers Coliseum. Here, you hear trainer Clint Allen who had been giving Emily lessons to help prepare her for the event, guide her through her run.