Our student of the month for January is Madison Ochoa! Maddie started with me just over 3 years ago now! She had been riding before she came to me and has a horse savvy mom so just over a year after they started with me they purchased their first POA, Chip! Chip is a bit of a celebrity, everywhere we go he gets noticed for his sensational markings!
Maddie gets to be the proud owner of Chip, and proud she should be! He was very lightly started when we got him and though he has a great mind on him, he also had his devious side! I believe Maddie got bucked off twice before I told her, you have to want to stay on more! Don’t give up, grab something and ride through it. So she did! The third time she pulled that pony around and stayed on and then kept working him! She has come a long way since then and has done really well with Chip! Maddie has a beautiful equitation seat and last year at the stock show they won the 10-13 Horsemanship and at Congress she placed 6th in Hunt Seat Equitation out of a huge class!
Maddie has great control over her seat and stays quiet in everything she does! In fact, I’m usually asking her to be louder and more aggressive in everything she does, but for her pattern classes quiet is a good thing! The rest will come and Maddie has already started riding harder in her reining and jumping classes. She has a strong work ethic and when she traveled with me to Texas she was up early every morning to help me feed horses, clean stalls and lead her pony around with a youngster riding. Looking forward to another great year Maddie! Ride strong!
