Two years ago, senior Grace Miltenberger picked up her childhood passion for horseback riding. She is now an equestrian at Oak Ridge Farm Equestrian in Illinois where she rides almost every day with her horse, Bentley.
Bentley has been with Miltenberger for the past two years. Although Miltenberger is not the official owner of Bentley, she is his full leaser and primary care taker. Bentley’s real owners live in California.
“When I first started riding with him, I was not a good rider, but he taught me a lot. We got a bond over the years and now, whenever I go out [to the pasture], he always runs up to me instead of running away,” She said
Bentley is a 10-year-old thoroughbred retired racing horse that is now a dressage horse. Together, Bentley and Miltenberger have been to various competitions in different states.
Miltenberger said her most memorable competition moment with Bentley was winning the National Dressage Pony Cup Championships in Ohio.
“It was pretty cool. It’s also cool to see how much better we did now than how we did a year ago,” she said.
While Miltenberger and Bentley have a strong bond and connection, Miltenberger decided it is best to stop leasing Bentley when she goes to college. She hopes that some of the money she would have spent on Bentley will be able to help her pay for college tuition.
“I didn’t really have a choice. At the end of the day, I’m not gonna be able to afford a horse while I’m in college,” Miltenberger said.
She said that while leasing him, she spent a lot of money on Bentley.
Although Miltenberger plans to still ride horses in college, it won’t be with Bentley.
“It definitely sucks but there is no other way around it. I kind of just accepted it. The best thing I can do is make sure he will go to a good home,” She said.
Miltenberger said she will start helping Bentley’s owners sell him in March. She said she wants to make sure Bentley ends up in a good home where she hopes to occasionally visit him.
“I’ll definitely try to keep in touch with Bentley,” Miltenberger said.
