A little bit about myself!

Hi everyone!

My name is Ali Leerink and I am a current junior in college at the University of Alabama, majoring in food and nutrition. I have always had a huge passion for the equestrian world. I have been riding since I was about 6 years old. Ever since I sat on my first pony at the age of 6 that was it. I begged my mom to sign me up for lessons. That is where I started out riding this little pony named Winnie. I learned how to do a lot of ground work and trotting on Winnie, and then when I got a little older, I moved on to a new barn where I started riding a horse named Reno. He was a very sweet quarter horse who I learned how to canter on. I rode Reno for a while until I moved up to kyros, who was a sweet little morgan horse. He was also the first horse that I got the chance to gallop on. I then changed barns again where I started riding a little grey pony named Jordan. I learned how to ride bare back on her. I then got to lease my first horse! His name was William, and he was a grey quarter horse. One of the sweetest horses that I have ever met. I had showed with him in some of my first away shows in the quarter horse circuit. After leasing William for about 1 year, I finally got to buy my very first horse! It was a dream of mine to own my very own horse, so I was over the moon excited. Along came Eddie, a bay quarter horse thoroughbred mix. Eddie and I continued showing in the quarter horse circuit until I decided to change barns again. This time I had moved to a jumper barn, which is where I am still at now. Since Eddie was not a jumper, we had made the very tough decision to sell him and he is now with a really nice family. That is where I started to learn how to jump. I started leasing a horse named scholar who sadly passed away from colic about 3 months after I had started leasing him. After that I had found Lucca. He was a warm blood who I got along with great. Lucca taught me how to jump jumps that I was not used to. The heights were scary at first but Lucca was amazing and very forgiving when some mistakes were made. I contribute a lot of the rider I am today to him. After leasing Lucca for about 1.5 years, it was time to look for another horse. I traveled to Ocala to try some horses there but I went home unknowing if any were the right fit for me. When I got back home, my trainer had texted me about trying a horse named Enzo. Enzo had been at the barn for a long time. In fact, he was in the stall right across from Eddie for the longest time and my family always loved saying hi to him, because he was always the sweetest horse. He was actually bred at my barn so I have known him since he was 3 years old. He was around 4 when I first tried him. After trying Enzo out for the first time, I knew that he was the perfect horse for me. We clicked right away and I fell in love with him instantly. We had always known him as the gentle giant of our barn because from a very young age he has always been a very large horse standing now around 17.3 hh. But, he is probably one of the sweetest horses you will ever meet. Enzo is now 9 years old and he has taught me so much so far. Enzo is my forever horse and I am so very thankful for him. That has caught us up to where I am now. I am currently a junior on the equestrian team at the University of Alabama. I can’t wait to continue sharing my story with you all! <3