Last Sunday I was manning the registration table at the BCHA Horse Fair and met two amazing young woman, Emma and Maggie. I was so happy that they were interested in sharing their stories with BCHA and its membership in our new series ‘Sharing Your Story.’
The Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) is so exciting about following this group of teens on their journey with horses, from training to competition, and even a Mustang Makeover!
We look forward to your comments and more exciting stories from Emma and Maggie.
– LindaP
Hello BCHA community members! We are a small group of teens who are very excited to share our stories with you. We are embarking on several different journeys in which we are documenting with video, photography, and blog entries. To begin, we would like to introduce ourselves.
Emma
Hello! My name is Emma, I’m 16, and attend New Vista High School in Boulder, Colorado. I was raised on a ranch near Hygiene, and started as a hunter/jumper with my small Hafflinger pony. I rode both English and Western before taking western riding up completely and learning the ways of the working cowhorse discipline, training with a new trainer and riding new horses. I love working with horses, and spending all the extra time I have with them.
Current Project:
The project that I am currently working on is training a horse named Drifter (pictured above). He is a stocky 15.5 hands mustang/quarter horse gelding, and tends to be very spooky with paper, plastic, tarps, and just about anything that can fly up into his face. Our journey is not in the beginning stages, however, we are still learning new disciplines, and working on learning that things that flap in the wind are not that scary after all.
Current Goals:
I want to eventually train horses, and live on a ranch, as well as possibly following my interest in environmental science, documentary filmmaking, cinematography, and photography.
I hope that sharing my story, and my friends stories through these future articles and videos will encourage other teens like us to follow their interests and hobbies, whether it be equine related or not, and to understand that it’s about the journey, not necessarily the end goal.
Maggie
Hi, I’m Maggie. I’m 16 , and I recently switched to New Vista High School. I started riding in 3rd grade with my now step sister Maia. I started out riding English and in 2010 moved to Acres of Opportunity Ranch (AOR) where I began to learn about dressage and natural horsemanship. After riding at AOR for a year my parents let me sponsor a 28-year-old gelding named Lightning. I rode Lightning for a couple of months until we decided to retire him. Lightning taught me that I didn’t need to compete or be a top-level rider to be happy. What was really important was the strong bond I had with him. Even when I wasn’t able to ride him anymore all that mattered was that I had him and he had me. Lightning ended up passing away when I was in 7th grade. I continued to ride at AOR for two years and had amazing opportunities and experiences.
I got my first horse, Dusty (pictured above), two years ago from the Colorado Horse Rescue. I’m so lucky that I found Dusty, she is the most amazing horse in the world and continues to show me how talented she is. Right now we are focusing on barrel racing, pole bending, and other rodeo/gymkhana events.
Current Goals:
This year, for my senior project, I’m planning on doing the 2016 Extreme Mustang Makeover. When I grow up I want to be a horse trainer and do something with the environment and dendrology. I believe the Mustang Makeover will help me towards my goals for the future. I’m super excited to be writing for this blog! I really hope that the stories and advice that my friends and I share will help other girls our age!
We are very thankful for BCHA for letting us share our upcoming stories as we go on through the year. Hopefully we will be able to share the good, juicy bits in videos, and show as much photography as we can!
Thank you,
Emma & Drifter
Maggie & Dusty
