A Small Girl With a Big Horse: How It All Began

About ten years ago, my mom and a friend, who also has a daughter my age, went on a walk to the San Pascual Stables in the Arroyo. They sat down on some rocks and watched the goings on of the barn, when my mom's friend wondered aloud whether we (her daughter and I) might decide to take up riding one day. My mom replied that I better not, it's much too expensive of a sport.

Two years later I took my first riding lesson, at no place other than the San Pascual Stables. I rode there for three years (until my family moved to Austria) with "Cowboy Dave", my first trainer. Before I mounted my horse for my first lesson, Dave held up his closed fist for me to see. That, he told me, is how big a horse's brain is. Dave would tell me this over and over again. He encouraged me to not be afraid of the horses, constantly reminding me that while they might be a whole lot bigger than me, I'm still a whole lot smarter than them.

I immediately fell in love with riding. I started taking more and more lessons, spending as much time at the barn as I could. After three years of jumping I discovered my passion for dressage, and I haven't looked back since. I go to the stables almost every day, and am working as hard as I can to become a professional rider. My mom, despite her former aversion to the sport, is now my number one supporter, right next to me every step of the way.