Being among the average high school, one of the reasons Mountain Vista (MV) sticks out is because of the talent and the student athletes. Among these athletes is senior Ryleigh Leavitt who in her free time enjoys spending time and competing with her horse MoonLight Crush. As senior Ryleigh Leavitt rides up to the jump, she is fearless, and becomes ready to own the competition.

Riding since age four, Leavitt has a love for horses, and purchased her first horse when she was ten. “I’ve always just loved horses,” Leavitt said. “And the more I do it, the more I love it.” After training for several years, Leavitt came face to face with one of her biggest dreams of competing in the FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships.

When it comes to competing in sports, most people participate in it because of the adrenaline rush that soon follows. For Leavitt however, it is the bond that she has with her horse. “ To be fearless is galloping up to those huge jumps,” Leavitt said. “It just has to do with the trust between the horse and you.”

After finding out her ranking of fourteen out of the forty-three among North American and Canadian competitors, Leavitt knew she finally made it.  “It’s been one of my dreams since I was eight and it was really cool to accomplish it.” said Leavitt. “I’ve failed a lot. There’s a lot of different things you can fail at when riding, and there are lots of different things to focus on.”

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Photos courtesy of: SportsFot, JJ Sillman, Scott Marshall, and Tara Leavitt