MEET THE JUNIOR

Hi, my name is Kirstie Breshears. I turned 14 last December 1. I have liked horses and have been riding horses belonging to my grandma, Linda Dollar, since I was in the first grade and moved near her in Mariposa. I didn't get into endurance until 2005. My mom bought a second "endurance" horse, Lil Mis Priss, a 10-year-old half-Arabian mare. This mare had never been on a single track trail, on the edge of a cliff, never been in water, and had never had a set of shoes on before her new life with us. She didn't trailer very well either. She does all of these things now!

My mom rode Lil Mis on her first ride, the Mariposa 50, where she came in just about last place, just taking it easy. She turned her over to me after that.

Our first ride was the Santa Cruz Fireworks. We were warming up when a loose horse ran by. After a little rodeo, my mom decided to pony me for the start. Another adult rider mentioned to me that that reminded her of her three years ago! After the start, my mom's horse Remfire started getting mad because he wanted to race, so my mom tossed me the lead line and told me that I was on my own. We did fine. She was great, even when we were attacked by wasps -- my mom still has a scar from a particularly mad wasp.

My mom and I have to trailer to Mariposa to do any real training. I can't go that often because of school and most of the training rides are on school days. When I can't go, my mom usually ponies my mare.

She let me miss school one day when we rode from Mariposa to Yosemite for lunch and then back. It was a lot of fun. Five of us rode. We were starving by the time we got there, and had a great sandwich from the local store. We rode through the middle of a golf course to get to the store. We tied the horses to trees and had lunch at some picnic tables. It was almost dark by the time we got back.

Last summer, my mom, her friend Lori and I were training on the second loop of the Mariposa 50 ride. There is this one hill that climbs forever. We like to trot all the way up it because it is great conditioning for the horses. We were over halfway up when there was a lot of crashing noises to the left of us. My mare slowed down, edging to the left into my mom's horse. We all noticed the bears at once. One was in a tree and the other was on the ground. The one on the ground started to run and changed its mind, stopping to check us out again. This was about the time that we all decided it was time to run. My mom still reminds me about how far out in front I was at this time!

My mom and I also had a great time at Del Valle Recreation Area, camping with Linda Rogers and Jane Cloud. We rode the horses on the great trails and had fun camping in the horse campground at night. I could have done without the scary stories in camp without any lights on, though!

Lil Mis and I completed all five 50s we attempted in 2005, and ended up in the standings! I finished the first day of Death Valley and attempted the third, but got pulled for lameness. I plan to continue with endurance riding. I love it and Mis Priss!

My friends at school think that what I do is so cool. They are always asking me to take them riding.

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