EVERY HOOFPRINT

My journey through Horseshoe Magazine was a bit different from other people’s.

was a middle schooler when my mom took my brother and me to Gettysburg, P.A. I looked at the big field blankly, being too young to comprehend its magnitude.

My mother always told me I was beautiful. I was her perfect gift, and nothing would change that, but I never fully believed her. As long as I can remember, I have been the “bigger” one in a family of gorgeous, slim women. I was the odd one out. I remember always being aware of my size, but it finally got to me in middle school. “Jade, you would be so pretty if you were skinny.” I was told this so casually by a boy in my class, no older than 13. That was the moment I real