While most student athletes play soccer or football, senior Katelyn Zatorski has chosen a path a bit different than the norm: riding horses at her local barn, Kennedy Equestrian Enterprises (KEE). 

“I race against the clock, jumping a series of fences with my horse and every time I have a rail down, I get four faults,” Zatorski said.

She competes in Jumpers, judged on speed and clearing the jumps, and Equitation, judged on the rider’s form.

Zatorski says she spends part of every day at KEE, doing her best to balance her time between horses, work and school.

“I try my best to get everything done early. It’s really just a lot of time management and my social life doesn’t always work into my plans,” Zatorski said.

All the time spent at the barn has paid off. Zatorski has won State for multiple Equitation, Jumper, and Pony Hunter divisions and placed high in Zone rankings.

Someday she would like to qualify for the North American Junior Young Rider Championships and plans to become a professional by age 21 and eventually go into the business of buying, training and selling horses.

Zatorski is already off to a good start, having sold a horse she trained herself back in 2007.

In the near future, Zatorski aims to move up from Modified Adult Amateur Jumpers to Low Adult Amateurs in March and to start doing small Grand Prixes by September with her horse, Sven.

Zatorski is excited for what this summer’s show season has to bring, including taking Sven to the seven-year-olds’ show in the Hamptons.