May 21, 2008

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- Achieving big goals starts with a dream -- but for Andrea Leatherman -- going for the gold means horse-y-ing around!

Riding horses isn't just a hobby for some people. The 23-year-old Leatherman -- who has been riding for 15 years -- is setting her eyes on the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and saving her four-legged partners in the meantime.

On Tuesday, Leatherman traveled from South Carolina to the Horse Park of New Jersey for a three-day equestrian event, called Jersey Fresh, where she competed with her horse “Revere Road.”

Leatherman also intends on competing in the World Games in 2010.

“It’s in two years (which is) a good time-frame. And then if that goes well, I’ll probably want to stay in horseback riding and go for the Olympics, cause it’s a goal that most athletes attain for,” Leatherman said.

Riding horses isn’t Leatherman’s only passion -- she also rescues them, (and) then trains those horses in hopes of finding them a new owner.

“I’ve been going up to the race tracks and pick(ing) out horses that are sound; seem like they have a good mind and have all the basics to become an event horse or a hunter, and then I’ll buy it and re-train it,” Leatherman said. “In a sense it is giving them another home and something else to do. They are so young and they still have so much potential.”

Leatherman feels it is important to have a strong relationship with her horses.

“They really trust you -- you can form this incredible relationship where they look to you for trust,” Leatherman said. “It is really a team effort where you help each other out. I think that’s when people underestimate the power of another being to influence something else.”

Leathermans placed sixth in her division at the Jersey Fresh competition, which was held last weekend in Allentown New Jersey.

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