Tag: OYES

OYES Feature: Ranée James
By admin

OYES Feature: Ranée James

Take a seat, grab a cup of tea, and let me tell you the incredible story of my life. My name is Ranée Tamia James, I am 22 as of and I am based in London in the U.K.

My riding story begins in 2008. I was in Antigua for my grandparents’ wedding vow renewal. The hot Caribbean sun was shining, the air was magical. I was 9 and decided to join my cousins at a summer camp. About a week into the camp, a local man brought his horse for the campers to have a ride on. I had a 2 minute lead round in a circle, then after a lot of begging and pleading, I got another ride. I was addicted to horses already, announcing their presence every time I would drive past them, but for me, this moment, the first time I ever sat on a horse, was the moment that made me who I am today.

It wasn’t until I was 14 that I rode again. I had asked my dad for lessons numerous times in between, however, with lessons as expensive as they are in the U.K., and being the oldest of 4, this was not affordable for us at the time. When I was 14, my uncle booked myself and my sisters a riding lesson, my first ever lesson, on July 13th 2013. This one-hour lesson re-sparked my fire, and drove me to further pursue riding. After many months of nagging, and begging, my parents finally allowed me to volunteer at a stable about an hour away from my house.

For around 2 years, I spent all my free time volunteering at the stables, weekends, school holidays, and occasionally after school. My duties there would be to groom, muck out, tack up and lead riders on the horses and ponies through the woods. It was a busy yard, so I wouldn’t get to ride as often as I wanted to, and prior to volunteering here I had only had one lesson before. Despite this, opportunities that I got to ride were very valuable to me. Lessons were not offered at this stable, so I would ride a horse or pony in the woods accompanied by another volunteer. I learned the basics of riding through a combination of watching others ride, and copying what I had seen in YouTube videos. It may have not been the best start riding, as I did pick up a few bad habits, and well, old habits die hard, but learning this way really pushed me to want to learn more and want to be great. Over the years, I worked at many different stables, in exchange for my lessons, I found this to be the most affordable way for me to develop.

At 16, I had my first lease horse. The name I gave her at the time was Majesty, but this was later changed. Things were complicated with her from the offset. She was meant to have arrived in June, however, there were so many complications, which meant she didn’t arrive until September. The day I got the phone call she was arriving, was unfortunately, the day my grandad passed away. She was a 13-year-old thoroughbred horse that was bred to race but never raced, she had a rough life prior to coming, and wasn’t trained at all. Even with everything I was facing at the time, I still made my best efforts to care for her. I had asked for her to be stabled at the bottom of the road from my sixth form so I could see to her. I was in sixth form five days a week, from early in the morning, and had to be dressed in business attire as part of the sixth form dress code. This meant that every day I was going to the stables in the mornings and afternoon in a skirt or dress or some kind of business attire. I tried my best to care for her, but I was looked down upon by other people at the stable. There was an incident, where a woman who disliked me and was very clearly racist, told the owner that I was constantly coming to the stables “inappropriately dressed” and that I had attempted to ride Majesty, which we had agreed not to, as she was not ready. This was a lie. I had taken her tack out to get her used to it, in order to train her to ride. But it was this woman’s word against mine, and the owner decided to not loan her to me anymore. This was heartbreaking for me, as I loved this horse very much. I would still visit her at times, however, when I returned from Antigua from my granddad’s funeral, I went to visit her, only to find out that she had moved her while I was away. I haven’t seen her since. I had other loan horses since, but she was my first, and special to me.

Between the ages of 16 and 18, I spent my time hustling for riding time, with my ambitions of one day riding in the Olympics always in my mind. At 18 I took a scholarship opportunity and moved to my country of origin, Antigua. Here I began to have weekly lessons. It seemed I overestimated my riding abilities at first, thinking I was much better than I was, and all my bad habits came to light. However, with a lot of patience, and hard work, from myself and my coach, my riding developed leaps and bounds, and I am now a more confident and developed rider. Being in Antigua opened up the opportunity for me to compete well as getting to ride a variety of horses. Not only did I get the opportunity to ride, but also the opportunity to work with rescue horses and nurture and help to train them. Since I was little, it has always been my dream to compete Internationally representing Antigua, and my time in Antigua has allowed me to build the foundations to do so.

During my time I have faced a lot of racism. On many occasions I was called derogatory terms, had tack stolen or tampered with and put on dangerous horses for other people’s amusement. One of the worst things I have ever had said to was to be called “Crook,” a reference to the book ‘Of Mice and Men’. Over the years I have suffered with depression and anxiety and have managed to overcome these, using horses as a therapy. Many times I nearly thought I couldn’t make it, and the love and energy I got from horses saved me.

Since leaving Antigua I have been working with The Urban Equestrian Academy, with them I have been working with them to teach theory sessions to the kids and hopefully open up an Urban Equestrian Academy in London.

The next step for me is to now pursue my Olympic goal in full force. I have set my sights set on the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and without a doubt, I will be there, by force or fire!

OYES Feature: Anna Streit
By admin

OYES Feature: Anna Streit

I had my first riding lesson at the age of 5 as a birthday present. I don’t remember much of it, but I’m told that I was so scared that I cried, and it took half the lesson just to get me on the horse. At the end I cried when they made me get off the horse. That was all it took to get me hooked, that one 30-minute ride. My parents had no idea what they had signed themselves up for, though they were always supportive. When I started showing and we couldn’t afford show clothes, my mom would find boys suit jackets and dress shirts at the thrift store and tailor them to fit me. I took weekly lessons, did summer camps, and showed nearly every weekend during show season up until I was about 13. The only way that my family could afford this is through an education grant that we received because of my parents’ political activism.

While I have struggled with anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember, the year I turned 13 was the worst it had been in my short life. I nearly quit riding because I had so much anxiety about jumping and showing. My mom convinced me not to, and I ended up just switching barns to a therapeutic riding facility that allowed me to work off lessons. I was homeschooled so I spent five to six full days a week there for about two years. That was when they closed, and I had to find yet another place to ride. Luckily for me, I had volunteered to help with horses at a summer camp in the area and the equine director had grown up riding at a local barn. She referred me to them, and I have been riding and working there ever since.

My riding goals feel so far away right now. I haven’t even sat on a horse since May, as I was stuck in Montana over the summer due to COVID and have no vehicle here and no money to pay for lessons anyway. The last time I had a real lesson was January when I was back home for winter break. At some point in the future I would love to get into dressage, as jumping really isn’t my thing. I am also interested in training miniature horses for therapy or service work. I actually have a mini in my backyard at school who I am training for service as my senior project. There are extremely limited resources on methods for this though, so I’m basically making it up as I go along.

My long-term plan is to hopefully get a PhD in archaeology and spend some time working in the field. Eventually I am interested in teaching, which is why I want the PhD instead of a Masters. I am in my senior year of undergrad getting a degree in anthrozoology with an anthropology minor. I had intended to apply to grad schools this fall but my top choice is not accepting grad students this year, so I am taking a gap year and applying to all of the schools next year instead. In May I will be headed back to Virginia for the gap year, and hopefully continuing to work off lessons at the barn I normally ride at when I’m home. I have no idea where I’ll get in (or if I’ll get in) so after the gap year I’m not sure where I’ll be. I do know I will want to ride wherever I go.

I’ve already talked a bit about some of my challenges, but I’d like to mention one more thing. This has not been a challenge for me at my current barn, but I am worried that it could be in the future as I try out new places. I identify as bisexual. My barn at home is very accepting of me and I even brought a girlfriend there to see the horses a few years ago. I know that not every barn is as wonderful a place as mine, and that I will probably have to deal with homophobia and bigotry at some point in my riding career.  I have been lucky enough to have had an accepting community in my teenage years, but I know that many do not. Stepping outside of that community is pretty scary, and I hope that being able to have a mentor as a resource will help to ease that transition.

OYES Feature: Erin Oquindo
By admin

OYES Feature: Erin Oquindo

When I was a little kid, my mom and I would drive the 3-hours to Dickson, TN to pick up my half-brothers from their father’s farm, where they worked and lived on the weekends. Even though my mom was a barrel racer for years, she couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering to the various jumping rings we would pass on that long road to Dickson. So that’s how I initially became obsessed with it and started consuming all sorts of equestrian media from the books in my school’s library to taking hand-me-down Breyer horses from a family friend. After I started taking lessons at 7 years old, I was hooked. I was fortunate enough to get a pony when I was about 10, which my parents and I paid for by all three working in various capacities for my riding instructor—I worked as a camp counselor and groom while my parents managed all the media and photography work in exchange for my pony’s board. Later on, I ended up taking a 5-year hiatus from riding, for most of my high school career and the first half of my undergraduate career—the space got too competitive, too expensive, and too white for me to comfortably continue. My junior year of college, I joined my university’s club IHSA team but dropped out a year later for financial reasons. Now, I am trying to rebuild my life in the equestrian world with a monthly half lease on a horse named Mozart (also known as Mo, Bobo, Bubba, Boombah, etc.) and a great, understanding trainer who is helping me work through a lot of my emotional and physical pain points when it comes to riding. I ride a bit less than once a week now and it is my current goal to get to a financial, physical, and social place to go to the barn more and for longer, so I can really immerse myself and learn.

I’ll be honest—I am not looking to be the next Grand Prix rider or Boyd Martin or whoever (the vast majority of these folks are white cis people anyway and I could never see myself among them). I am not interested in showing extensively at the upper levels in that way. As my long-term equestrian dream, I simply want to one day get to a place in my life where I own and regularly ride a horse, grow in my skill and strength, and can dedicate myself to horseback riding as my primary activity outside my career. I would entertain it being a part of my career, but I just feel like I haven’t had the proper exposure to the horse world to really tell me whether or not that’s the path for me. In the short term, I currently have the opportunity to ride the same trained horse consistently, and that’s the first time I’ve ever been able to do something other than ride various lesson ponies. I would love to spend more time getting to know him, building up my muscle and confidence, and advancing to the level I know I have the potential to reach if I were able to ride more and be at the barn more. 

If you had asked me about obstacles to riding a year ago, I maybe would have answered simply with the financial struggles I’ve gone through and the few bouts with racist folks I’ve encountered endless times at shows, in my own barn, etc. But I really had a reckoning with why I took that five year break I spoke about from the equestrian sport, just a few months ago after George Floyd’s murder. I follow the popular equestrian podcaster, YouTuber, and +R training advocate Jill Treece (JetEquiTheory). A few months back, she was using her platform around that time to amplify black and brown riders and bring awareness to the fact that while there’s a lack of diversity generally throughout the equestrian world, media does a fantastic job of convincing us that there is no diversity to begin with. Those of us who are riders of color and queer riders—we’re constantly convinced that we’re completely alone in what we do. It wasn’t until Jill started connecting me with these other riders of color, and—I’m a little embarrassed to say but also, I’m so thankful for it!—TikTok—led me to find an incredible community of queer equestrian folks, where I got to meet another nonbinary rider for the first time ever—it wasn’t until I started meeting all these people and following equestrian diversity alliance on Instagram and joining the Facebook groups and so on and so forth that I truly realized what a weight and a stressor it was to not see myself in those who did the sport. I have never once in my life met another Filipino equestrian. I’ve never come out as nonbinary to any trainer I’ve ever had, and as a result have sort of volunteered myself via my own silence to be misgendered by my trainers throughout my riding career. Even with as kind a trainer as I have now, I fear coming out in the equestrian space because I don’t know the ripple effects of hatred and bigotry it may cause. I’d rather go under the radar and still be able to ride than feel like I’m getting quietly pushed out by those tides of racism and bigotry again. I felt so alone in the horse world for so long, and it’s incredibly difficult to put that feeling to words. This scholarship is the first time someone has said to me “I see you, and I know this is hard for you, and I’m offering you help.” That’s so huge.

As for a non-equestrian-related goal, it’s my dream to become a professor, with a focus on visual culture and abolitionist study and theory. That’s what most of my time was dedicated toward in undergrad and I would love to teach eager students about race, justice, history, and visual culture. It is a dream of mine to teach college-level courses in prisons so that people in prison have the opportunity to get college degrees while we actively work to dismantle the prison industrial complex in the meantime. Ideal situation for me—there will be no “prison” as we know them for me to teach in when I get to that stage in my life!

OYES Feature: Bryanna Tanase
By admin

OYES Feature: Bryanna Tanase

My name is Bryanna Tanase and I am a 22-year-old para-equestrian and graduate student from Tarpon Springs, FL. I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 11 months of age and as a result rely on a wheelchair for all my daily mobility and require assistance with most daily tasks. However, I like to focus on my capabilities rather than my disability, and horses help me do just that.

My love of riding and horses started with a trip to a farm in preschool, where I became infatuated with a palomino pony, and has continued since then. Throughout my childhood, I only had small interactions with horses like pony rides at the zoo and piggybacking on vacation trail rides with my family because riding was inaccessible for me. So, I spent the majority of my younger years learning as much as I could about horses through books and movies and asking my parents for a pony every chance I had.  It was during this time that my 10 or 11-year-old self discovered dressage and paradressage through YouTube videos of Charlotte Dujardin, Laura Graves, Roxanne Trunnel, Rebecca Hart, and other well-known paraequestrian and able-bodied riders. I fell in love with the sport and knew it was something I had to pursue, and achieve the highest level of distinction in. It wasn’t until my parents enrolled me in the therapeutic riding program at Quantum Leap Farm in April of 2016 that I was finally able to learn to ride and be around horses on a regular basis. I was 17 years old, so I waited 14 years for this day. I progressed and gained so much skill and confidence in the program that I took my first independent ride in December 2016 and have been riding independently since then. In addition to riding, I have also had the opportunity to be actively involved in the care of horses and building a bond with the horse I ride. I am engaged in the equestrian community through my social media like Instagram and Facebook and am advocating for greater inclusion of paraequestrians in the media and equestrian sport at large through writing articles for outlets like US Equestrian and Kerrits Equestrian Apparel for their diversity and inclusivity projects respectively.

My future goals are to enter my first dressage show and begin proper dressage training with a dressage trainer, and my ultimate goal is to qualify for the US Paraequestrian Team and ride for the US in the Paralympics. I have made some progress toward these goals by working on 20 meter circles and other dressage movements with my trainers at Quantum.  I have connected with dressage and paradressage riders and trainers across the country to gain a better understanding of the sport and build a connection with them so we can lean on each other, such as USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist and Silver Paradressage Coach Lisa Hellmer and paradressage riders Laurietta Oakleaf and Alyssa Cleland. Furthermore, in January 2020, I received my national Grade 1 paradressage classification at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival and had the opportunity to watch international riders compete.  I have also been working to find a dressage trainer locally because I feel like I am missing a lot in terms of technical skill that I do not get in a typical therapeutic riding session. I think having a combination of both therapeutic riding and dressage training lessons will be beneficial for me because they will both serve different purposes. The dressage training rides will be for building on the basics I am familiar with and for learning new skills in a stepwise fashion, and the therapeutic rides will be for continued strengthening and revision. I have also recently found another therapeutic riding center called Emerald M with a dressage trainer onsite, am filling out the paperwork to become a rider there, and I am super excited to see how everything goes.

I have overcome many challenges to become the equestrian I am today. The first is because of my physical health which also turns into a logistical problem. Many people in the equestrian industry are very wary of taking on students with a disability because of the liability involved. I cannot tell you how many times I have been turned away from facilities and told to go somewhere else despite my enthusiasm and want to learn because it is clear that the trainer and owner believe I would be too much of a headache to handle.  If the attitude of the facility staff is not an issue, another roadblock comes in the form of the accessibility of the facility itself. The main issue is that many stables in my area do not have a safe way for me to mount and dismount, but sometimes the accessibility can be so poor that I cannot get to the barn aisles to see the horses. Even if I suggest a solution to these issues that would not be too much of a hassle to implement, I am met with unwillingness to accommodate. Additionally, if we overcome the first two obstacles, there may not be a safe horse in the barn for me to ride. Sometimes, no matter how much the barn staff wants to help, there is no prudent way for me to ride and be engaged in the culture at a barn, so I have to give up on the opportunity and try to find something else.  I would like to branch out from therapeutic riding centers to experience an able-bodied dressage barn, but I cannot do that without support from the staff there. I firmly believe that the barn should be a safe place where everyone is welcome, and that there should not be separation between able bodied and paraequestrian riders. We should be able to share our love of horses together in harmony.  Thankfully, because of the wonderful people at Quantum Leap Farm and Emerald M, I can ride despite this adversity. I have also overcome the social challenge of convincing my parents to let me pursue my athletic ambitions, after many disagreements, I won a battle well fought and they now see that pursuing my equestrian dreams is something I am passionate about. My parents are a huge part of my support team and I am so glad we can work together towards my goals. I am so grateful for all they have done for me and I know I would not be able to achieve all that I have without their help. The encouragement and advice I receive from them is really motivating.  I am the only equestrian in my family, and I am so proud to be one.

OYES Feature: Lara Ambo
By admin

OYES Feature: Lara Ambo

I was born and raised in the Philippines but I’ve been living in the Bay Area for about nine years. Since I was a little girl, I was always fascinated by horses. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was about them that mesmerized me, all I know is that the more I’m scared of something, the more I want to do it. My curiosity and fascination about horses turned into passion. I guess you can say it was in my blood all along.

In the Philippines, it was uncommon to have horse lessons or horse facilities that educated people about horses. I recall going to a park where you could rent horses and people will lead you to do multiple laps. Being young and naive, I wasn’t aware that proper attire is a must. I was just wearing sandals, shorts, a t-shirt not to mention I didn’t even know wearing a helmet was crucial. I told the worker to let go of the line and that I want to be in charge. By doing so, I made the horse trot. Back then I didn’t know it was called a “trot,” all I know is that as long as it’s not a walk speed, it’s good. I tried to do a 2 point position to copy the jockeys from the racing movies.

From then on, whenever I could, I would ask my mom to take me to the park. We’d go once in a blue moon, but I always looked forward to riding again. When we moved to America, I thought my dream would finally come true, but just like the saying goes, “it’s not always greener on the other side”. For years I tried to persuade my parents to let me take horse lessons but they argued that it’s too dangerous, expensive, and no one can drive me. I tried to make up solutions and plans just to make it work but I was always shut down.

My dad always preached that if I can’t find a way to make it work without involving others, there is no way it’s going to happen. I never gave up and kept bugging them for my ideas on how to make it work but it was always rejected by them. It was an unwinnable situation. Being a retired sergeant, my dad was strict when it came to teaching me how to drive. Three months of learning how to drive a stick shift with him felt like hell. I didn’t give up because I knew that if I wanted to accomplish my dream, I had to learn to be independent from them. I also started working at FedEx to save up money for college and riding lessons but doing a lesson once a week was still too expensive for me. I can drive, I work, I study hard, and make sure my chores are done that way so they can’t say anything against me, and once I felt ready again to ask them if they’ll allow me to ride, again they said, “No, it’s too dangerous.”

I got so frustrated that I told them I respect their decisions but I’m tired of wasting my life not doing the thing I love the most. I decided that no one could stop me from reaching my dreams this time. The next day, I went “barn hopping” to inquire and find a perfect match for what I was looking for. I had zero experience, but I was willing to learn and volunteer but unfortunately, no one was willing to take my offer.

Finally, I found Piedmont Stables. For about six months, I was just going up there everyday, greeting the staff and the horses. I was trying to advertise myself and making connections from scratch. After months of networking, I found a lady who was willing to let me lease her horse.

When I took my horse lesson for the first time, my trainer asked me what my goal was and I told her I want to learn equitation and jumping. After a year of leasing a horse, I realized that my goal has changed. I want to be the best equestrian version of myself. My goal is to learn and expand my knowledge of different disciplines such as western and English. I want to learn more about saddle fitting, conformation, training a green horse, liberty training, natural horsemanship, what it takes to be a good horse owner, what it takes to own a horse related business, and other horse related things. I want to continue my equestrian lifestyle for the rest of my life.

I was happy when I started taking lessons once a week, but I found it difficult to feel proud of myself because I can’t help but compare myself to other children who are younger and better than me. Deep inside I was ashamed that I started riding at the age of 18 and can’t help but ask myself “I wonder if I would be jumping by now if I started riding when I was 12?” I became hard on myself and grew to hate myself each day whenever I don’t see any progress because I was trying to make up for the time I wasted. Feeling insecure about myself and my riding is an ongoing challenge.

I’ve always wanted to have my own horse but I want to make sure I have all the knowledge I can get and also make sure that it is the right timing to do so. Being a good horsewoman and trainer is something that is a process and doesn’t have limitations. I started my learning process when I leased my first horse and ever since then I was eager to expand my knowledge and skills.

I currently attend college part-time for art and design and work at FedEx part-time. I’m still not fully decided on what I want to pursue as a career because I am torn between following the “Known” path as an art teacher where I have a secure job but I am not passionate about it versus the “Unknown” path where I pursue my passion for horses. I’m not sure where or how to start and make it into a successful career. Someday, I want to have my own ranch where I can use it to collaborate with a school and have students do volunteer work, or a group of students can make a riding club at their school. I just want to give BIPOC students an opportunity to start a career related to horses at a young age.

OYES Feature: Milan Berry
By admin

OYES Feature: Milan Berry

Usually when I tell people that I speak Chinese and ride horses, I get more than a few head-turns and eyebrow raises. Being an African American woman, most people wouldn’t expect me to speak one of the world’s hardest languages, as well as have the ability and physicality to control a one-ton animal with my heels, leg, and seat.

I think that it takes a special type of person to willingly walk into an unknown situation with no allies or support system behind you, and still come out swinging and successful. I’d like to think that I am experienced in this aspect, as some of the most important parts of me stem from being the “only one”.  I believe it truly makes me unique, an anomaly, but never in a negative sense.

My name is Milan Berry. I am a senior at Georgia Southern University double majoring in International Studies and Chinese Language, and I am the current Secretary of the Georgia Southern Equestrian Team. Through this University-sponsored club team, I have been riding English consistently in weekly lessons for around 4 years now, and the Equestrian Team is trained by Eleanor Ellis, out of Evermore Farm. English is truly the discipline I am passionate about, but my wildest hopes and dreams stem from eventing. Watching the horses gallop cross-country, jumping over monster sized landscapes gets my adrenaline pumping. This is why eventing is my favorite discipline, one I hope to be able to participate in within the near future.

Horses have been a lifelong fascination for me. As a toddler, and I vividly remember watching the 1994 version of Black Beauty on cassette tape. Watching the black stallion gallop across fields, throw its head and rear took my breath away in ways I still remember clearly to this day. They were magical creatures, animals that were so big but so full of life and personality. Ever since then, I have been fascinated with them and the sport that horseback riding is.

Since I am completely financially independent from my parents, I use money from my student loan refund to pay for lessons, as well as show fees and riding clothes. This is the only way I would be able to afford riding, and I also work two part-time jobs to afford extra lessons and showing opportunities. I am the only African American English rider on my Equestrian team, and I am the first POC to serve in an officer’s position in the entire history of the club. As the secretary of the Georgia Southern Equestrian Team, I am responsible for recruitment and the management of our social media profiles and influence. Currently I only show in walk-trot, but I attend two lessons weekly where I walk, trot, canter, and have jumped up to 2 foot. Although it is hard to ignore when I am the only POC lessoning and competing, I have never allowed this isolation to stop me.

Throughout my time riding, I quickly became aware of the fact that I was isolated via race. I noticed it while watching the Olympics in 2016, I noticed that I never saw people of color in the Dover catalogs I receive in the mail. I especially noticed it in the show ring, when even to this day I am often the only person of color competing. Although the horses that we ride do not see color or race, it is hard to be the only person who looks like you in a show ring or lesson. It is hard to not see many people of your race at the very top of the sport, competing in Grand Prixes and winning hundred thousand-dollar derbies. And it is especially hard as of recently with so many large equestrian companies and brands speaking out about diversity and inclusiveness in our sport, and to see many influential equestrians speak against it. How do I explain my experiences to people when there are so few people like me to share theirs as well? Having the monetary funds to maintain horses is a privilege that many people don’t understand, especially if they were born into the lifestyle that I try my best to spread awareness of this fact, as riding horses has truly taught me the results of hard-work, perseverance, consistency, and grit.

When I think back to my younger self, I would have never imagined being in the position I am today. There were a variety of factors that prohibited my ability to ride when I was younger, but the most significant ones were finances and distance. Due to financial hardship within my family, riding as consistently as I do was a dream to me at one point in time. I remember begging my parents for lessons, giving them all types of addresses and names of barns that they could take me to. But as I grew up and kept asking, I quickly realized how expensive horses were. Average lesson prices in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia are around $60.00 to $70.00 dollars an hour, and even as a pre-teen I knew my family couldn’t afford it. This didn’t stop me though. Right around the age of 14 and 15, I began catching Atlanta’s public transportation system to get around the city. This gave me a wider range of freedom, and I spent countless hours on buses and trains to get to a therapeutic riding program I began volunteering at about 20 miles north of the city center. These volunteer sessions taught me the most basic skills, such as tacking up and grooming. This was how I got my “horse fix” my freshman year of high school, and my interactions with horses only grew from there. I later accepted two working student positions in the summer of 2014 at a hunter/jumper barn, and the summer of 2016 at a local trail-riding business. After 2016, I did not ride another horse until I was a freshman at Georgia Southern. 

As a double major in International Studies and Chinese Language, other countries and cultures have always intrigued me. I began learning Chinese at the age of 14 and learning the language had provided me two international experiences before I turned 21. I am proud to say that studying Chinese led me to the opportunity of becoming a Benjamin Gilman Scholar, a U.S. Department of State program that funds study abroad initiatives for low-income students. I spent a month attending East China Normal University in the Summer of 2019, taking a Chinese International Relations class. I learned about different aspects of China’s international relationships with other countries, as well as key details about Chinese foreign policy. Receiving this scholarship was truly life-changing, as it opened my eyes to the possibilities of a career abroad and specifically within the Foreign Service. The fellowships that I am applying for could potentially completely pay for my graduate school and assure me a career within the U.S. Department of State. My goal is that I will earn enough money to own my own horse someday and be able to afford lessons and training as well.

The opportunity provided by the Optimum Youth Equestrian Scholarship means the world to me. I am truly grateful to use this riding scholarship to not only improve my personal riding skills, but to raise and encourage awareness for diversity and inclusion in the sport itself. Horses have taught me the value of patience, hard work, perseverance, and above all the will to excel no matter my environment. Thank you for believing in me and I hope we will be able to bring people from all walks of life into the wonderful place that is the equestrian community.