While most little girls her age are
thinking about dolls and having tea parties, four year old Nakiya
Trefethen is taking the reins of a big Morgan named Win. The
Jefferson youngster has already been riding for about two years.
According to Mom Ashley, Nakiya loved pony rides at area festivals so
much that she and husband Jake decided to give her riding lessons.
That's where Julie Bittner of JW
Training Stables came in. “She's quite a good little rider,”
Bittner said of young Nakiya. According to Bittner they usually don't
take students until they are a bit older than Nakiya. “She wasn't
even three when she started.” It became very quickly clear to
Bittner that Nakiya was ready. “I am impressed with how well she
listens.”
Nakiya rides Win, who happens to be
Bittner's own personal riding horse. Bittner explained that the
stables has a couple of horses that are good for children or new
riders. “Win is a great horse,” she said.
Having an indoor arena makes it
possible for Nakiya to take her weekly lesson year round. Lessons for
children are limited to about half hour because they often get
sidetracked. “She really pays attention,” Bittner said of her
youngest student.
Nakiya knows the important parts of how
to get Win to move and stop. She's also very familiar with the safety
factor when it comes to riding. “Wearing a helmet,” she said of
something she always dons when riding. “For safety,” she said
when asked why. And, while she said riding is fun, she knows you
can't just ride without any preparation. “You have to learn.”
Nakiya comes by her love of riding
naturally. “I rode when I was a kid,” Mom Ashley said. Ashley
loves the fact that her young daughter enjoys something she too loved
as a young girl.
While she rides by herself in lessons,
currently Nakiya's mount must be on a lead when she competes. That
doesn't stop her from striving to do her best and remember her
training. She proudly showed off her blue ribbon from a horse show
last month. In addition to the ribbon, Nakiya also won a gift
certificate to purchase tack or something else for her horse. Like a
typical four year old, she had other ideas. “I want to buy a car.”
The little horsewoman also offered some
words of advice. “Don't fall off.” She has only lost her mount
once during lessons and that was because Win shook, tossing the
little rider to the ground of the indoor arena. Bittner said she was
more upset about getting dirty than about being hurt.
Bittner is impressed with Nakiya's
ability to understand and retain what she is taught during her
lessons. Only one time has Nakiya request to stop her lesson early
and that was when she wasn't feeling well. Other than that, according
to Bittner, Nakiya is never ready to stop riding. “She's never
ready to get off the horse!”
And, it doesn't like that is likely to
change any time soon. Nakiya grinned and nodded when asked if she
wanted to keep riding even when she was grown up. “Yes, I want to
ride horses,” she said matter-of-factly. She also has other plans.
“I want to be a teacher like Mom.” Ashley is a substitute teacher
at Head Start in Jefferson. Nakiya has two brothers- one younger and
one older. Ashley has lived in Jefferson since she started seventh
grade. Dad Jake is a lifelong resident of Jefferson. “I also want
to do barrel racing.”
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