Hitting new heights
Preston Healy’s love of horses started with a carnival pony ride. Soon after that, he was checking out every horse-related book the Paine Elementary School library had to offer.
“He kept asking, ‘Mom, do you know where a stable is? I have to go ride,’” his mother, Ruwena Healy, said.
Three years later, the now-11-year-old sixth-grader at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School is competing — and winning — at state and national level equestrian events.
At the Alabama Hunter Jumper Association year-end show in November, Preston and his horse Charlie Brown won two first-place awards, a second-place award and was named show champion in the 0.65-meter show jumping class.
Preston said he does about nine shows per year, and this past summer he was also part of the fifth-place team in the U.S. Pony Club’s nationwide Quiz Rally. Preston has also received his Equestrian Athlete Lettering from the U.S. Equestrian Federation for the second straight year, and in January the AHJA named him the 2017 champion in the 0.65-meter jumper division.
On Fridays, Preston and Ruwena Healy can be found making the trek from Trussville to El Gezira Riding Academy in Harpersville. It’s a long drive, but Preston loves being at the barn. His passion for horses was a first for the family.
“None of us has any horse knowledge except for Preston,” Ruwena Healy said.
Charlie is Preston’s first horse of his own, bought in October. He’s slightly bigger than the previous horses Preston has ridden, so he’s still getting used to the change of pace.
“He is funny; he’s around 16 years old. He loves to jump,” Preston said of Charlie. “He likes to go fast, so he’s not one to just relax.”
Preston said he likes going fast, too, so it’s a good match when they enter the arena.
He works as a counselor-in-training for El Gezira’s spring break and summer camps, which includes everything from 6:30 a.m. rides and barn cleaning inspections to teaching the campers games to play on horseback.
When it’s time to go to shows, Ruwena Healy said her son’s talents rise to the top. Though he’s often one of the youngest riders among his friends, she said others look to him for help with memorizing the jump courses, which are often put up less than an hour before competition begins.
“He’s very quick at memorizing it,” Ruwena Healy said.
While she used to be more involved on show days, Ruwena Healy said she’s learned to take a step back and let Preston and his trainer, Pam Ibrahim, work together to figure out what they need. However, she’s often on hand to fetch boots or help find anything else Preston needs.
“That’s not mom’s job. So I just stay away and let him and the trainer do their thing,” Ruwena Healy said. “[I’m] not the horse groom, but the child groom.”
Preston said he wants to keep competing in bigger shows and get up to jumping higher than 1 meter. When asked why he wants to continue show jumping, Preston’s answer is simple: “It’s fun.”