An Interview with Abigail Davison
What is your name and age? Abigail Davison, 15
How long have you been involved with horses?
Pretty much all my life; I grew up in a horse family.
Do you have an instructor or trainer?
No
What’s the hardest part of owning or caring for horses? Balancing school and horse time is probably the hardest part for me because both need a lot of time and energy.
What kind of riding do you do?
Western all-around.
Tell us about your horses. Breed? Age? How long have you owned them?
Koda, my mare, is a 10-year-old grade Quarter Horse; I’ve had her for almost 4 years now. She was the first horse I trained. Chester, my gelding, is a 3-year-old Curly mustang, and I’ve had him for 10 months. He is the first mustang I have trained.
What are your horse riding and training goals?
My big goal is to make mustang training a career. I would like to train more for ranch versatility and working cow horse events, but mainly I want to put solid foundations on mustangs so that they can go in any direction. They are a very versatile and trainable breed, seen anywhere from top level dressage horses to reliable cow horses to trail mounts. I would also like to eventually have a youth and mustang program. We can do a lot for a horse’s soul, but horses can do a lot more for our souls.
Any accomplishments you’re especially proud of?
I would probably say that the one client horse I’ve trained so far is doing awesome for her owner. You can control a lot of things with your own horses or horses you are selling, but no matter how great of a trainer you are, client horses aren’t always guaranteed to do well, especially after only 30 rides. Everyone rides differently and so there’s always that worry in the back of your head that the horse may not adapt to their owner riding them.
What are some obstacles/challenges you’ve had to overcome with your horse training or riding?
Probably backtracking on training to find holes in a horse’s training. In the fall of 2020, I started a family-raised filly and then let her grow up while I was super busy through spring of 2021. Then I tore my labrum in my hip, which caused me to be unable to play with horses for a while, so she sat for way longer than I had originally planned on. Now I’m having to restart her and backtrack through her training to figure out why she now bucks for some reason we can’t pinpoint.
Name one or two of your heroes in the horse world – people you admire and respect. Why did you choose this person?
There are a lot of people I look up to, but if I have to say just one, I’d say Jacqueline Zacharias because she’s a great horsewoman and a great person too. She really is the type of person I think everyone should look up to for horsemanship and how to live life in general.
Some others that I really look up to are Nate Eicher, Bobby Kerr, Camille McCutcheon, and Sam Vanfleet.
What is your dream career? Do you see horses in your adult life?
I want to make mustang training a career and have a TIP Storefront so that I can both train mustangs for people and adopt out unhandled ones. I also want to have a youth program eventually because horses can help our mental health so much. Mustangs come from a place of fear, living without purpose, feeling stuck, victims to their circumstances, just like many teens. We can help both of them learn to overcome all of that together. I want to leave the world a better place.
See this article in the May/June 2022 online edition: