Falling off is part of riding horses. Falling off safely is actually a practice we teach our girls very early on in their time with us. Just like life, sometimes things are not going to go your way. And, it’s not about how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you stand back up.

Show team member and TTR student Jaylyn had been struggling to keep herself on our pony Spree. Despite being a very broke and safe horse, Jaylyn developed an understandable fear of it happening again. Jaylyn was not hurt in any of the incidents, but she had some mental hurdles to get over.

“I told her to act like Spree was her best friend,” TTR Program Director & Show Team Coach Liz Aulestia said. “It was the best way I knew how to shift her mindset.”

The next Sunday, Jaylyn had the best time with her new best friend Spree.

And what followed brought Liz to tears, no matter how embarrassing it was to the girls.

“Towards the end of Jaylyn’s ride, Pilar (Show Team Captain) jumped off her horse, Luke, to go hug Jaylyn,” Liz shared. “Pilar told her how proud she was of Jaylyn and I lost it. These girls have the biggest hearts.”

This was never about falling off. It was about Jaylyn learning that she could always get back up. And when she didn’t feel strong enough on her own to do that, she could look to see there were plenty of people beside her ready to help.