United States Eventing Association

USEA Member Story #7

This is the seventh entry in the USEA’s Member Story Series. Help us reach our goal of over 300 stories – email your story to [email protected].

My name is Jennifer Winters. I am 17-years-old, and I attend Salinas High school as a Junior. I am an active 4H-er, who shows sheep when I am not Eventing. When I was little I was a Brownie and I played soccer and basketball, but I never stuck to them like I did with horses. Any chance I could, I would go to horse camps in Topanga, CA. Then, In 5th grade I moved up to Salinas, from Santa Monica.

It was quite different from LA. It was a lot calmer, and the best part was that there was a barn right across the street from where we moved. Could it be any better? So I attended a couple of camps, then eventually started taking lessons, which led me to lease my first horse, Megan.

She was a 19-year-old mare. The first time I ever rode her I took her schooling at Twin Rivers. What we didn't know was that she had a tumor on her ovary, and she acted like a stallion. So after a couple of weeks we took her into the vet’s office and she had surgery. After three months of walking her twice a day, I finally got to ride her again. I rode her for about a year, and I took her to six Beginner Novices that year and placed variously through second place and fifth place. Soon after that I started looking for another horse, since I couldn't take her novice since she was so old.

This is when I found Bunkie. He was at our barn already, but Tara his previous owner was growing out of him, so we bought him. I took him from Beginner Novice to Training level. He was super pony. He was a full Connemara. I even took him to a Connemara show, where I received a trophy for best young rider dressage score and we won second place overall Connemara. When I took him to my first Training, we won it! I was stoked! But after three years of riding him and taking him to shows, it was time for a new horse. I wanted to move up to Preliminary, but Bunkie was getting too old, and we didn't want to risk anything to happen to him since we already had a buyer lined up for him, Devin Eastman. The Vet’s daughter. What could be better?

I was at Shepherd Ranch Horse Trials when I found him. I was testing him out for another girl at the barn, but he was way too much horse for them. His name was Kiwi. He was a five-year-old Mustang, that was rescued off the California land by the BLM. He wasn't my dream horse or a super elegant 16 hand bay horse. He was a 14.2 hand pony that looks like a bay, but is actually a paint. He wasn't perfect either. He was unfortunately trained wrong and would curl with his head to his chest and rush to the base of the fence. He was also completely unconnected from his hind feet and was really spooky, but there was something about him. He was different. My trainer, Sabrina Miller who also fell in love with him said we could retrain him. So I bought him on June 20, 2009.

We had our really tough days, bad days, occasionally a good day, but everyday I learned more about him. Soon enough I went to my first event on him. Unfortunately I fell off in Stadium, and the next couple events weren't much better. We had to withdraw one and then we scored a 52 in my first completed event on him because he was scared of the camera man filming our test, and he stopped dead in the middle of our test, but after that, it has gone up from there. I have learned so much on him, and I am still learning. I have become such a better rider because of him. So all of last year I took him Novice, while schooling Training. Then at February Ram Tap I took him Training! Our test was -well not the best. He doesn't really like mud, but I am surprised I scored a 42, for how bad I thought it was. My stadium was the best I had ever had. We don't rush to the base of the fence anymore, well actually we have not for quite awhile. And cross country is his thing. I let go of the reins and we are off.

My horse Kiwi is my life. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry, but most of all, he makes me smile. He has the most personality any horse could have. He is the barn clown. Everyone loves him. I would not be anywhere with out my supportive friends, and my biggest hero, Sabrina Miller. We have our arguments but she has taught me everything and I wouldn't know where I would be without her.