Leo is the Spring 2023 OYES Scholarship winner, sponsored by Kerrits Equestrian Apparel.
I am a firm believer in letting love guide you through life. Pretty much every equestrian says this, but horses are my life force- nothing drives me more than my passion for these remarkable animals. I started riding when I was about five years old, but just a few times a year on trail rides. When I was eight, I rode English for the first time, and I realized I wanted to learn to jump. By the time I was 14, I was having so much fun jumping hunter courses in my lessons, although I never had much interest in showing. The connection and learning experience with the horse was most important to me, not ribbons or points. I am currently still doing hunters, but also learning natural horsemanship, and I still ride western for my own enjoyment.
My main riding goal is to have the most symbiotic connection with the horse I’m working with, where the horse does not feel pain or fear, is not overwhelmed, and feels safe when learning. I want to learn more about why a horse reacts the way it does, on both a physical and emotional level; a mentor would be super helpful with this. I also have a growing interest in showing in hunters, as the competitive nature of shows will put healthy pressure on me to improve as a rider.
One of my major long-term goals is to grow safe spaces for equestrians of color and LGBTQ+ equestrians, as well as safe spaces for horses in need. I have a passion for helping both people and animals in need of love and care, and helping horses and helping people strongly goes hand-in-hand. I am currently learning horse training through natural horsemanship and working with a few project horses so that in the grand scheme of my plans, I will be able to rehabilitate, gentle, and train troubled horses.
Mustangs, slaughter-bound horses, neglected horses, ‘problem’ horses, off-the-track Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, senior horses, and any horses in need of care have always had a soft spot in my heart, and it is my goal to provide better lives for them. So many horses end up in neglect cases or the slaughter pipeline, often due to irresponsible owners and breeders. Three of the project horses that I am working with are Arabians that have been rescued from slaughter by a friend of mine, and he is having me help rehab and retrain them. The quality of a horse’s life depends on the human taking care of them. Thus, it is also a part of my goal to open an equestrian facility and rescue program to teach people about horse care and compassionate horsemanship, and at the same time create a place to be very people-of-color and LGBTQ+ friendly. A place where all types of people and all types of horses feel loved and safe is my absolute dream.
Horses are my safe space in a hostile and ostracizing world, even when the horse industry is the world that makes me feel ostracized. The first strain of alienation that I felt when it came to the horse world was being Asian-Latino. My parents are immigrants-my dad is from Shanghai, and my mom is from Peru. I have been surrounded by preppy white kids my whole life, constantly feeling like the odd one out, but I did find joy when I would seldom meet a fellow Asian equestrian. Unfortunately, I’ve never met a fellow Latino equestrian. I also don’t come from an equestrian family, nor a family that can afford a single horse.
Almost everyone I’ve met in the horse industry has come from a generation of equestrians and are particularly wealthy. Growing up, when not in school, all of my time and energy went toward planning my life to revolve around horses. Within those years, and still to this day, I worked hard both volunteering and being employed at as many horse facilities as possible, taking the jobs that nobody wanted in exchange for riding lessons (and life lessons), driven by the force of love that I have for horses. One thing I particularly love about horses is that every horse has something different to teach me.
What made me feel ostracized the most from the horse world was when I started realizing that I am queer and transgender. I felt so unsafe, as many horse people that I know are rather conservative, that I distanced myself from being involved with horses for about 4-5 years. Stepping away from the people in the horse industry was vital to growing into my true self, but that entire time I felt that a large part of my soul was missing.
I got extremely depressed and suicidal, feeling very lost and that my life was on the wrong path, and was consumed by fear. Luckily, within the past couple of years, I’ve been so blessed to find safe spaces in the equestrian world where I can be myself without fear and my quality of life and my mental health has significantly improved with horses back in my life.
The funds from the OYES scholarship will help aid my equine education and training. I will be majoring in Equine Science and Management this fall and am planning to join the university’s equestrian team. A portion of the scholarship will help pay for what it costs to join and participate in the equestrian team, as well as buying appropriate hunter show attire, such as tall boots, a show coat, show shirts, show breeches, and an ASTM/SEI-certified show helmet; I currently only have paddock boots with half chaps, casual riding pants, and a colorful helmet that may not be appropriate dress code for shows. Outside of school and the university’s equestrian team, I will be using the scholarship funds to take lessons in natural horsemanship, as well as hunter lessons, to improve both my overall ability and experience with horses on the ground and in the saddle. I am planning to take natural horsemanship lessons and hunter lessons.
Becoming a better rider as well as better understanding of horses and what they need both emotionally and physically is key to helping me achieve my goals of helping horses and helping humans.