By Chris Moffitt
Everybody dreams of owning a horse — of riding into the sunset, or feeling the wind on your face as you gallop away. But for Freshman Kierstin Thigpen, this dream is her reality.
Underneath her academic prowess and athletic distinctions at TPA lies a deeply placed extracurricular passion for horseback riding. Kierstin is a proficient and experienced horseback rider who participates and competes in Arabian horse shows! Describing her activities, she says, “Horseback riding is a team effort between a rider and a horse where you use your legs, voice and hands to cue the horse to perform different maneuvers. There are different types of horses for different events, including jumping and performance horses, which are the ones that I’m involved in. At shows I might compete against as many as 20 different riders and horses. At my shows I ride all Arabian and Half-Arabian horses of all different ages and levels of experience.”
Now this is certainly an extraordinary activity. Not many people can say that they ride Arabian horses for fun! But Kierstin has been involved with horses since she was in the 4th grade. She says, “A friend of mine took me to ride her aunt’s horse and it was really love at first sight, not only with the horses but with the sport itself. From then on I continued doing backyard lessons until I moved to the barn I’m at now where I was able to experience the bigger regional and national shows. I love being around the horses and getting to know all their different characters. They’re truly beautiful and magnificent animals that I couldn’t imagine my life without.”
Kierstin’s love for horses is clearly displayed through the incredible amount of time she puts into working with them. During the summer, “every morning is a 4 a.m. wake up and I stay at the barn at least seven hours riding and training a lot of the horses there. All of the different experiences I get around the horses and other riders definitely make all the time and commitment worth it.”
But Kierstin’s efforts pay off in a more tangible way as well. She has been amazingly successful in her horse show competitions. Describing her most recent first-place win at the Carousel Arabian Horse Show, she says, “The horse I was riding was a very young and inexperienced performance horse, but she’s also a very quick learner with a lot of potential. We were able to make first place in our competition with a nearly flawless ride, and I couldn’t have been more proud of her!” Along with this win, Kierstin has also won some national top ten and reserve champion titles!
Once again, we see how Tempe Prep students excel as they recognize, as did Aristotle, that excellence is not merely an act, but a habit.