AQHA competitors, 22 year-old Paige Ahlberg of Oregon and 18 year-old Mary Huddleston of Virginia may have met one day as a result of their involvement with AQHA. But these two remarkable young women have a special connection due to both being diagnosed with an extremely rare type of bone cancer known as Ewing’s Sarcoma.
“This has been life-changing for Mary and me,” says Paige, who started showing horses as a young girl. “This is a devastating disease and to see someone who shares my lifestyle come through it successfully is very motivating. To know I can ride and show again in the future is exciting.”
“Horses and cancer have brought us together, even though we live 2,700 miles away from one another,” says Mary.
Over the past few years, GoHorseShow has written several articles about Mary Huddleston and her fight with this rare form of cancer. Recently, Mary told us about her friend, Paige Ahlberg. The two riders connected on Facebook after Paige read Mary’s story in an article in AQHA’s America’s Horse magazine. While Huddleston’s cancer is currently in remission, Paige is at the beginning stages of her fight against this disease.
“I totally understand where Paige is at in her unfortunate journey with cancer,” says Huddleston who competes in the hunter under saddle classes with her horse, Assets In A Artbeat. “Both of our situations with cancer and major surgeries are very similar, if not identical, to one another. I have given her so much advice on how to handle being sick from chemo side effects, dealing with a hip replacement, and how horses can play a huge role in the recovery process. Paige was worried that her hip replacement would interfere with horseback riding, and I have assured her that is not the case.”
The recently engaged, Ahlberg (pictured left), is an avid young horsewoman who has been riding since she could sit up. She began showing Arabians at age three, won championships in Arabian Youth competitions, and then began showing Paints and American Quarter Horses. Paige is accomplished in English riding but seems to really enjoy the Western world where she has competed in everything from barrel racing to working cow horse and now is a winner on both Half-Arabians and Quarter Horses in NRHA events. She loves caring for animals and people alike and is a recent graduate of the Medical Assistant program at Everest College.
Paige’s mother is a horse trainer so she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t involved with horses. “My mother always took me to the training barn where someone watched me as she rode, and, then, as I got older, I rode too.”
As a young girl, Ahlberg started showing at the Oregon Quarter Horse Association (OQHA/AQHA) shows in several events but mostly reining. Her father also served on the OQHA Board of Directors for six years. As an interesting side note, her father was a career Navy Seal and was stationed in Machrihanish, Scotland when Paige was born.
Of course, horses have helped Paige and Mary through this difficult time in their lives. “Horses have been great for me,” Paige states who recently just went through another 30 weeks of chemotherapy. “They are always there for me; seem to treat me special; and they can sense when something is wrong. They are amazing. I recently had a two week break and got to go home and look out and see my horses in the pastures. I also made it to the barn to check up on them and make sure they got some treats.”
Huddleston agrees (pictured right), “Horses have taught me so much about life. They do not judge on looks and always understood when I was sick or hurting. There is such a gentle and kind soul within the Quarter Horse that both Paige and I have witnessed. Paige is an inspiration to everyone who knows her, and I am proud to know such a strong and beautiful young woman.”
