Falcon Of The Week: Jayme Omand

This CB senior is on the ride of a liftime.

Since freshman year Jayme Omand (’14) has been competing in Horse Back Riding Tournaments.

“I believe it’s a sport. You need to have certain skills to compete. You can’t just hop on a horse, you could end up hurting yourself or the horse” she tells the Talon.

During these 4 years, this CB student has won many awards and prizes. Most recently Jayme won 1st place in the NorCal Finals, a very prestigious tournament in California.

How does one train for this? What does it take to be a champion on horseback?

“I practice 4-6 times a week — Tuesday-Sunday practices are an average of 2 hours” she says.

Yet she’s not alone on these weekly practices. Her horse, Frosty, a Dutch Warm Blood breed weighing 1,350 pounds is her companion. In competitions they compete in Jumping and Course Events, events focusing on agility and strength both from the rider and horse.

While being a student and an athlete are very time demanding and cause stress. Jayme tells the Talon that because of the two she has learned to hone her skills of time management and prioritizing.

“Horseback riding and school have been very valuable to me” states Jayme.

What does the future have in store? This CB Falcon has just recently verbally committed to Texas Christian University and she will be on the TCU Equestrian Team next year as a freshman. Jayme hopes to continue competing throughout college.

She is motivated to keep riding because of her family, especially her mother.

“My mother was defiantly the key factor in why I am horseback riding. I first started to ride horses when I was 7 years old — I first started to compete freshman year,” the CB senior says. “My mother did the same thing when she was my age. She inspired me to compete all through high school.”

Jayme’s says perseverance is key to being a successful horseback rider.

“My advice to anyone trying to compete or learn how to ride horses is to ‘never, ever give up’.”

Whether in School or on horseback Jayme Omand is a great example of the perseverance and hard work. CB is very lucky to have her as part of the community.