Joyce H. Goldfield

1994

Community Service

As a young mother, Joyce Goldfield spent hours on the ice-skating rink, in the ballet studio and in her sail boat. After a violent attack on her life, which she miraculously survived, Ms. Goldfield developed multiple sclerosis (associated with the trauma of this attack). Subsequent balance problems interfered with her ability to ice skate at her previously level of expertise, and she returned to her childhood love, horses. While riding, she was bucked off a horse and confined to a full-body cast for two months. Discussing her frustration about the cast and hindrance to her freedom with her friend Duane T. Irving, they talked about the problems of disabled youngsters, confined to wheelchairs, unable to properly enjoy the freedom and healing powers of the wilderness.

On July 9, 1977, Ms. Goldfield opened the Halleck Creek Riding Club at Duane’s ranch, a Marin County 4-H Club with twelve riders and six gentle horses. The club has grown to a membership of over 500 riders of all ages and disabilities, with a core of 100 volunteers and thirty-five horses. Ms. Goldfield has written a book about her twenty years of Halleck Creek in which she states that Halleck Creek is an affirmation that life is a joy, regardless of the pitfalls, and that it is more important to celebrate what you CAN do, rather than to grieve over what you cannot.