The sound of strong hooves thunder over the ground as dirt floats into the air. Soft yet stern thumps are heard as the rider commands her horse using her feet along his side. A concentrated look is present in the rider’s eyes as she leads her horse to make a jump but a smile traces her face once the horse lands the powerful maneuver.

Senior Celeste Hermes was introduced to horseback riding at a YMCA camp that she attended with her friend as a little girl and was immediately was fascinated by the sport.

As she grew older and her passion for riding developed further her parents supported her desire to further pursue riding because they believed she was a natural at riding and Celeste’s mom, Lou Hermes, had always had an interest in riding as well.

Lou’s favorite memory involving her daughter and the sport was when they purchased her first horse which was a gelding named Frazier.

“We surprised her with that, she kind of knew that it was coming because she got it through the Make A Wish Foundation but she didn’t know when it was going to happen so that was the surprise and that was pretty special,” Lou said. “She was able to be a part of the Make A Wish Foundation because she has Cystic Fibrosis which is a disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.”

Celeste was aware that Frazier could possibly become her horse because when she met him she instantly had a connection.

“You have to try out the horse first to see if you fit well with them he was the first and only horse that I tried and I loved it and I loved his riding style and the way he reacted to me so I knew I wanted him,” Celeste said.

Celeste remembers having her suspicions the day that she found out Frazier was her horse because her mom had taken her to her weekly lesson instead of her grandma.

“He has this tail that whenever he is excited it goes up; I saw that tail and it was going behind this massive hay wall so I walked into the barn and there’s all of my barn friends and family and him,” Celeste said. “I was in shock but I was also ecstatic. “

Along with Frazier’s tail gesture he also has other quirks that set him apart from others horses.

“It’s funny because there are some horses, like camp horses, were they can do well with anybody but he’s just a one person type of horse,” Celeste said. “It takes a special kind of patience to connect with him because he can be kind of scatterbrained if you’re confident in yourself then he mirrors that confidence.”

While Frazier is able to replicate Celeste’s mood for the most part, sometimes his nerves can still be too strong to control.

“The cross country course is right there next to the highway so it freaks him out so that’s been the biggest struggle for me and him because he gets really nervous,” Celeste said. “He’s a horse he definitely could hurt me if he wasn’t focusing, obviously he wouldn’t be meaning to, when he gets nervous he’ll buck and put that nervous energy into bucking around and running.”

It’s important that the duo are able to keep their anxiety under control because of the threat of one of them getting injured being present.

“Calming myself down enough to calm him is one of the hardest things I think so that’s the biggest challenge right now,” Celeste said.

One of Celeste’s methods to trying to maintain a tranquil state in herself and Frazier is to sing to him and pet his neck to reassuringly until he settles down. Celeste’s friend, senior Elizabeth Jones, met Frazier and has seen a little glimpse of Celeste’s closeness with Frazier.

“My favorite part of visiting the barn with Celeste was getting to see the bond that her and Frasier have created,” Jones said. “He was so happy to see her, and you could tell he was very comfortable and trusting with her. He is a super charismatic horse, and that’s why I think they get along so well.”

After years of being together Celeste and her horse have grown very close to each other and because of the trust that Frazier has instilled in Celeste it has helped their riding become stronger as well.

“People think riding a horse the horse is doing all the work but really the horse is taking cues from the person and riding and it’s very subtle you don’t even realize what they’re doing to make the turns or the jumps or whether they are going to be trotting or walking,” Lou said. “It’s just very subtle signals from the rider that’s getting them to do that and it’s kind of amazing really to watch.”

While there is a lot a rider has to do in order to get their horse to do exactly what they need them to do Celeste has never been overwhelmed in the learning process.

“For the most part learning has never been an issue, I catch on quickly but it’s whenever I learn it wrong and have to fix it later that it becomes an issue,” Celeste said.

Lou recalls one of her proudest moments of watching her daughter horseback riding was from a lesson Celeste had involving making jumps over logs.

“Eventually I think she got to six jumps where the person had to go over each of the jumps six times and Celeste was the only one who did it successfully and the trainer was like ‘And that is how it’s done’,” Lou said.

Because of moments like this while training, Celeste now has a stronger sense of self-esteem about herself which others in her life have noticed.

“She always tries her hardest to accomplish any goal she sets for herself despite adversity, which I have always admired,” Jones said.

While Jones has recognized the strength that her friend has, Celeste can also understand how being involved in horseback riding has taught her much more than how to care for a horse and ride it.

“Riding has taught me confidence, for sure, because you have to confident if you’re going to be bossing around an animal that is twelve times your size,” Celeste said. “You can’t let him get away with something because then he’ll learn that he can get away with that so it taught me to stand up for myself.”