Falling in Love with Horses - Felecia

I've been told the story of me staring at the pony rides at the State Fair a dozen times. For a busy three year old that was always wanting to see MORE, me staring at something was at least somewhat eventful. I don't remember much from that day, just the Ferris wheel and those ponies on the red metal walker going around and around. I must have seen some picture or something of these fascinating creatures before then, but it wasn't important until that moment. Then I got to ride one and I spent a good amount of the time looking down at the horse. I was then as obsessed with horses as a three year old could be.

As the years wore on into my preteen years, my friends outgrew loving horses. As toys were replaced with makeup and boys were suddenly interesting, somewhere horses couldn't find a place in their new, oh-so-adult lives. I toned down my love of horses just to fit in better with these friends, but the horse posters still hung proudly on my bedroom walls.

Around this time, and off and on until high school (when I was then able to ride consistently) I got horseback riding lessons. Riding is one of the few activities that I meet challenges head on and work through them, never once thinking of quitting like with Algebra or Chemistry.

Because of my perseverance and surprising amount of patience with horses, I knew I wanted to have a career with my passion. I bounced around a ton of ideas from farrier to trainer to equine massage therapist, hoping I'd find something just...fit. None of these job opportunities ever seemed to stick with me. Then my instructor told me about a gal that rode at our barn who could tell me more about therapeutic horseback riding. Burnt out on bouncing around ideas and my graduation date just days away, I thought volunteering would tell me if I liked this, if I could do it, and if I could fall in love with the industry like I am in love with horses. I obviously did fall in love with it, because the next year, I went to school at Equest, got my certification, and am now flourishing in a field that suits me beautifully.