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When Natalya Jarczyk and her horse Frivole Des Pres raced to victory in the $15,000 Marshall & Sterling Child/ Adult Jumper Classic at HITS in Ocala, Natalya’s mom, Allyson, was there to cheer on her daughter. “Natalya is dedicated to riding and she lives for it,” Allyson said. “I am so proud of her. It was a thrilling win and I am so glad I was there to see it.”

While Natalya says she is still riding on cloud nine after wining the classic, riding into the winner’s circle hasn’t always been a part of the her lifestyle. “When I was only seven years old I started riding a green Thoroughbred cross and we ended up buying her,” Natalya said. “Even though it was a huge mistake buying Tootie, she helped make me a better rider. I look back and it is surprising to think about how tiny, young, and inexperienced I was riding such a young, big, and green horse.”

Natalya’s parents bought her a pony after that and Natalya launched herself into the world of short stirrup and medium pony classes. While Natalya’s dream was to compete in Pony Finals, her pony wasn’t up for the challenge and Natalya’s dream never came true. Things turned around for the 15-year-old ninth grader from Orange Park, Florida, when her family purchased Frivole, a jumper. “I just keep getting better and better on her and it is nice going from not placing in the ponies to fnally doing well!”

NJ: It was literally the best feeling ever! I had to give credit to my horse, she was just amazing. I was in shock the whole night and felt like saying, “Someone pinch me please.” Going into the class I had lots of confdence but when the night class came, I became more nervous. I went into the ring and I kept singing Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” song in my head. As funny as it is, it actually calmed me down. The course went pretty well except that I added in the combination. When I fnished with a clean round, I was extremely happy but then I had the jump off to worry about. I kept watching all the other riders to see how it was going and the times were getting faster and faster. I saw some people clearing the course in 32 seconds, others in 29. I was determined to win it after the frst jump and when I saw the scoreboard rank say #1 after the last jump I couldn’t believe it.

NJ: A girl at my barn was leasing Frivole, and when she became available we knew she was a great horse so we decided to buy her. She was 16 at the time so we knew we would have to be easy with her. I started showing her in the low children’s jumpers for the rest of 2009. In January 2010 at Jacksonville, I moved up to the high children’s jumpers. I got better and better as time went on and I was able to show at HITS Ocala, Atlanta and Venice. In November 2010, I did the $10,000 NHJL Child-Adult

NJ: I ride at Coriander Farm in Jacksonville and my main trainers are Nashea Rowland and Katie Young. I have been riding with them for almost six years. I love training with Nashea and Katie because they’re very supportive and lots of fun to be around. When we show over the summer, we have so much fun. Nashea is extremely goofy and acts just like one of us. At the same time, they are both very professional and want us all to succeed.

NJ: I started riding when I was seven years old. When I was in kindergarten, we took a feld trip to a farm and there were little ponies that we were able to ride on. I wanted to ride one so badly and I fnally got to. My mom saw that I loved it so much so she decided to sign me up for some lessons. We started out just doing one lesson a week, but I asked if I could do more. We gradually went from one lesson to two, then on to three, and so on.

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