None of my rides are professionally prepped for me. Mom’s rule is pretty strict: if I’m riding it, I prep it, groom it, and take care of it before and after.

No lie, it takes a lot of time, especially when I’m riding several horses in a day. But I’m okay with that. I like knowing the horse I’m getting on and making sure they’re taken care of when I’m done.

Flat class today made us drop our stirrups. Glad I’ve been practicing, because without them you find out pretty fast what is actually holding your position together. Your balance, seat, leg, and hands all have to work without the stirrup saving you.

I ended up winning the class, so I guess the practice is helping. No stirrups is hard -- even on a professionally trained horse.

Becoming a working student gave me more responsibility. I help get client horses prepared, keep track of what needs to happen, and help riders and horses get to the ring on time. Seeing everything that has to happen around one round has made me more aware of what the horse and the team need.

It has made me appreciate the time I get with my own horse more. When it is our turn to compete, I feel like we both need to be at our best and represent our barn well.

I want to keep riding in college, but I also want to be part of a program where the work behind the riding matters. I like being around people who take the horses seriously, expect a lot from themselves, and understand that being useful to the team is part of the job.

I’m interested in young-horse development, conditioning, horse care, rehabilitation, nutrition, and the work that keeps a good program running.

I want to keep riding and eventually work with a large barn where I can stay involved with the horses every day. I also want to keep building RingStatus and the other tools I can think of.

Long term, I’m most interested in hunters and developing green horses. I like figuring them out, building their confidence, and helping them become more useful and consistent.

I want more experience in the 3'6" equitation classes and to get more consistent with the decisions I make on course. There’s plenty to work on beyond getting comfortable with the height.

Riding different horses is part of that. I want to get quicker at figuring out what each one needs and carry that into the ring. That’s something I want to keep building before I ride in college.

A lot of my recent horse records are short. From the first recorded class to the last, the median window was 24 days, and 20 of 21 horses had at least one top-four finish.

I do not have time to ride every horse like the last one. I try to pay attention early, make the useful change, and get on with the job.

I am a junior hunter and equitation rider and a full-time working student with Alan Korotkin at Castlewood Farm. Most of my experience is in equitation, but I love the hunters most.

I’m pretty quiet, but I’m not usually hard to find. I’m probably at the barn, in riding clothes, and my helmet always seems to be on.