Horse Walks into Erie-area Ballroom to Fulfill Make-A-Wish Request

by David Bruce

Truth be told, Carly Dahlkemper knew she was getting a horse as her Make-A-Wish gift.

What the 12-year-old Mill Village girl didn't realize was that Emmy, her favorite horse in the entire world, was going to be led through the doors of the Ambassador Center ballroom Wednesday morning and be given to her.

"I have been riding Emmy all winter," Dahlkemper said. "She's very sweet. Emmy nudges me and loves me, and I love her back."

Bringing an American Bashkir Curly Horse into one of Erie County's most glamorous rooms culminated a nearly two-year wish fulfillment for Make-A-Wish's Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia chapter.

Dahlkemper, who suffers from a respiratory and digestive disorder, first fell in love with horse riding as a preschooler attending Waterford Days each summer.

"Carly would ride the ponies so many times at Waterford Days that the vendor would tell us that she should get a free buggy ride," said Dahlkemper's mother, Lori Landfried.

"Riding makes me feel free from my medical condition," Dahlkemper said.

When Make-A-Wish notified Carly that the organization would grant her a wish, she first wanted to take her family to a horse ranch in the western United States. However, two of her sisters are allergic to horses, so her mother helped Carly choose another wish.

Landfried contacted Denise Olczak, executive director of Mystic Mountain Training Center near Cambridge Springs, to find a horse Carly could keep.

"I let the horse pick the rider," Olczak said. "So Carly walked into the stall, and Emmy put her head around Carly and hugged her. It was incredible because I didn't even have Emmy in my riding program because she is an introverted horse."

As Carly spent the winter riding Emmy every chance she had, Olczak and Landfried worked with Make-A-Wish to eventually give Emmy to Carly.

Jan Stork, Make-A-Wish's vice president of development, came up with the idea of presenting the horse to Carly at the Ambassador Center. She reached out to Scott Enterprises, which owns the banquet and conference center.

"I'm shocked every time someone says yes," said Stork, who has helped grant eight horses to Make-A-Wish recipients in her 22 years with the organization. "The only problem was that Nick (Scott Sr., CEO of Scott Enterprises) wanted to walk Emmy into the room. The horse was just a little too nervous for that."

Olczak prepared Emmy for the presentation by walking her around the Tops Market parking lot in Waterford, then walking the 16-year-old horse in and out of her walk-in basement about 20 times Tuesday night.

The strategy worked. Emmy, decorated in ribbons as curly as her distinctive coat, was calm as she entered the ballroom despite all the people taking photos with their cameras and smartphones.

Emmy will continue to be boarded at Mystic Mountain for the next year as Carly's family builds a barn and pasture on their property.

"This entire process has been amazing," Landfried said. "Carly is Emmy's person. Emmy doesn't like people or groups, but she loves Carly."

Author David Bruce can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNbruce.

This article originally appeared on Go Erie and is published here with permission.

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