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Experiences of Fellow Riders to Brighten Your Day Experiences of Fellow Riders to Brighten Your Day

horses back then. Her previous owner
was my trainer, so I rode her several
times before buying her. I jumped and
did dressage with her, but I must ad-
mit that I fell off many times. She didn’t
have much experience when I bought
her, so there were many things she
was afraid of. If the train passed while I
was riding her, I would fall off for sure.
Despite all the falls, Macarena won my
heart and I learned a lot with her. I did
my first jumping and dressage shows
with her, and she taught me one of the
most important lessons for my career
when I was only thirteen years old. I always do my best to teach my students
this lesson: ‘Riding is only learned by riding, and everyone who rides falls off.
A fall is not an excuse to stop riding.’ The first horse is always one of the most
important because it is the one that makes you feel for the first time a kind of
love that you will not feel for anyone else. The love and partnership created by
a horse and his rider is pure magic. The most important thing to keep in mind
when you are thinking about buying a horse is to choose a horse that you have
ridden more than once, and make sure he will help you grow as a rider.”

Manuelita Sanchez

Manuelita Sanchez is a Co-
lombian young rider. She star-
ted riding when she was four
years old, and has competed
in different national jumping
competitions in Colombia, and
regional shows in Europe.

“I had my first mare
when I was seven years
old. She was called Darling
Looping, but I changed her
name to Lola, because I
didn’t like the other name.
I rode her three times befo-

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