Paddy Storey, originally born and raised in Alberta, now lives with her husband, her teenage daughter, 19 horses, one miniature pony, two donkeys, five dogs, four puppies, and two cats on a cattle ranch North of Quesnel, surrounded by the trees of beautiful British Columbia. She also has a son that recently graduated and has since moved out on his own. She balances operating Rydyn High Ranch with her husband and Hearts and Hooves Holistic Healing while currently working on her BA with a major in Psychology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies through AU.
What has been your favorite AU course that you would recommend to other students to take?
WGST 333 (Goddess Mythology, Women’s Spirituality and Ecofeminism) – I absolutely loved that course. So much historical information that really makes you think about how colonialism and Christianity have shaped the world. As a nature lover and someone who runs an energetic healing business, the ecofeminism part of it was really relevant to me as well.
What are you academic goals for 2018?
To continue working on my undergrad. My goal is to finish two full semesters between April 1 and December 31.
What do you hope to do with your education from AU?
I want to add a therapeutic aspect to my existing business, so I plan to go on to get my Masters in Counselling
What inspired you to work with horses?
I grew up on a cattle ranch and we always had horses. At 10, I joined a horse 4-H club and was a member for 11 years until I aged out. My horse was my best friend growing up and I wanted to offer that connection to as many people as possible.
Tell me about your favourite horse?
My favourite horse is the mare that I got when I was about 8 and she was my 4-H horse. I was so excited to have a registered quarter horse. Her name was Poco Bar Candy – I called her Candy. She was a brat of a horse, not an easy one to ride, but she was my best friend. I spent hours and hours on horseback throughout my youth and teen years. She died a few years ago at 22 years old and it broke my heart.
What is Rydyn High Ranch?
Rydyn High Ranch is our cattle/horse ranch operation. We have just under one hundred head of commercial cows and plan to grow to 350 head within the next four years so that my husband can quit his day job and ranch full time.
What does Hearts and Hooves Holistic Healing do?
Hearts and Hooves is my side of the business. I offer energy healing, aromatherapy, equine facilitated learning and personal development and we are adding on a guest ranch/retreat to it as well so that we can offer multi-day programs.
Besides working with horses, what are some of your other passions?
I love writing – poetry and stories and I am working on a book. Photography is another passion of mine. Enabling and empowering young women and women is something that feeds my soul.
What are you currently reading for fun?
Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown and Witch, Unleashed, Untamed, Unapologetic by Lisa Lister
What is the number one show you think everyone should binge watch?
Riverdale… It’s my new favourite! Everyone should be watching it. The characters are quite different from the comics, but I can’t get enough of it.
If you were to host a dinner party and could invite anyone, famous or not, past or present, who would be sitting at your table? What would the conversation be about?
Mahatma Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey – we would talk about how to reverse some of the less than desirable changes in society that have taken place over the last decade or so and how to help people find peace within themselves and not live in fear and hatred.
How do you balance school and work?
Lucky for me with our relocation and revamping of my business plan, I have had a lot of downtime in the past few months, so I have been able to dedicate time to my schoolwork fairly easily. Come springtime when I am marketing, doing trade shows and building up my retreat side of things, it will likely become a lot more difficult to balance.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I hope to be running a successful equine facilitated wellness retreat and ranch as well as doing some motivational speaking and promoting my book (maybe books).
