I have thought long and hard for several days on what I could write about that would make me stand out or appear interesting. I’ve never had a truly heartbreaking or painful experience and I consider myself to be an ordinary person. I’m a decent athlete, maintain a B- average, fight with my siblings, go to church and do the basic day to day things. The only activity that comes to mind regarding how my character was molded is horses. Horses lend us wings we lack, when I enter the arena before a competition the only thing I’m focused on is the beating heart of the horse underneath me.
Our hearts beat together twice as fast. I can’t describe the feeling I get after the gate shuts behind us and the event starts. The feeling is intoxicating. It doesn’t matter where or when I’m on my horse the feeling is always the same, I feel exhilarated and free. Being involved with horses has taught me to be independent, strong willed, and patient. My mom did an awesome job of playing the role as mom and dad. My mom has always told me that when I was younger I had an infectious smile, you never once saw me without a smile plastered on my face.
That all changed December 2004, my dad walked out on our family leaving us broken. I was seven years old and after my dad left that happy-go-lucky kid lost her infectious smile, in fact that smile became a rarity. When I was nine my mom decided to introduce me to the therapeutic art of horseback riding. When being around horses every pain every worry goes away, anything that stresses me out becomes irrelevant, nothing else matter in the world except the horse and our connection.
I have tried almost every type of horseback riding there is: english, western, bareback, pleasure riding, trail riding and jumping. Freshmen year I decided to try out local gymkhana shows to figure out if it was something I was into and I fell head over heels in love with every aspect of it. Last year, I joined California Gymkhana Association in District 33. I have finally found what I’m good at and what I really love to do. Gymkhana is an equestrian event consisting of speed pattern races.
Theres 13 events, the faster the rider completes the pattern the higher up on the leaderboard they will stand all year long you accumulate points to qualify for state championship, which I had the honor of attending this past summer with my family. The thirteen events are; poles I, poles II, barrels, figure 8 stake, figure 8 flags, keyhole, speed ball, birangle, quadrangle, hurry scurry, single stake, speed barrels, and big “T. ” I was state ranked this past year in birangle, big t, speed barrels,and hurry scurry. My personal favorites is poles.
My biggest strength when riding is my confidence and ability to read my horse. I always know what he is feeling by the way he moves and the way he looks at me. My biggest weakness last year was I look at the ground and not where I am going, I think I do this not because I’m petrified of falling and getting hurt but because I’m fearful of falling and humiliating myself. My mom makes a lot of sacrifices for me to compete and when I mess up or make mistakes I feel like I’m disappointing her. After my state championship experience I have overcome this bad habit.
I have learned you define your own success, and to me success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it. I know I always try my best but not everyday turns out how you expect it so you have to learn to deal with what you get. Riding horses has taught me that nothing comes easy and you have to be patient. Horses are frustrating animals, they have minds of their own, there is no routine everything is different, there is always something new, and you can’t give up. Theres three options in life give up, give in, or give it your all, you get to decide.
Riding with people in my district has influenced me in so many ways. They are all so dedicated and it inspires me to push myself to do the best I can. They are all so passionate about what they do and it’s such a positive atmosphere, everyone encourages each other to be superlative. Horses will always be part of my life, because of horses I am not afraid of failing. In fact I want to fail because when you fail you learn, you need to learn from your mistakes and better yourself. Horses have taught many life lessons that will benefit me for almost any situation that life hurdles in my direction.
