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Biographical information on Jessica Heidemann
First let me
start by introducing myself. My name is Jessica Heidemann.
I am 23 years old and graduated from Western Washington
University. I finished in June of 2002 with a Bachelors
Degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), a minor in
Mathematics, and a certificate in Web Management. I'm a
very self-motivated, goal-oriented person. In High School I
decided to take Community College classes through the Running
Start program. Those extra classes allowed me to graduate
with my degrees in only four years.
I have worked at
two different jobs all through college. The first, of
course, has been at our barn, Cain Lake Stables. I have
been teaching and training seriously for about five years. My
other job is at WWU working for the Student Health Center. I
have been hired on as a permanent employee of Western. I am
an Information Technology Technician. I maintain the
computers in the system, the website, and the Electronic Medical
Records system.
Ever since I can
remember I was fascinated with horses. I rode horses
whenever I could, mostly at Girl Scout Camp or other summer
camps. I kept asking my mom for more lessons but never got
them. Finally when I was ten I was allowed to take my first
riding lesson. It was great!! I became a working
student and learned as much as I could. It was an
incredible experience.
When I was 15 I
got my first horse. Her name was Gaily Gifted (G.G.) and
she was the most special horse in the world. About the same
time I was introduced to the sport of Eventing and fell in love.
G.G. and I started training and showing and worked our way up the
levels. I joined the Area VII Young Riders and started
training with Jean Moyer. In 1998 I was chosen to go to the
North American Young Riders Championships. G.G. and I won
the individual gold medal at the CCI*. It was one of the
most memorable experiences of my life.
In April of 1998
I purchased another horse, French Twist. The idea was that
G.G. would never be competitive above the Preliminary level and I
needed something that would go all the way. Frenchie is a
very special horse. We took about a year to start to work
as a team but once we were together, we were unstoppable.
In May of 1999
there was a terrible tragedy. I was trail riding with a
friend. I was on Frenchie and she was riding G.G. Something
spooked G.G. and she jumped out onto the road and was hit by a
car. My friend escaped with two fractured vertebra and a
broken foot, but sadly G.G. was killed. Frenchie was also
hurt from running on the pavement and all the excitement. He
knocked loose two bone chips in his right hind fetlock. The
chips were removed but the site became infected. Frenchie
stayed at Washington State University for seven weeks, but
finally in July he returned home. He was started back to
work in January of 2000 but none of us knew if he would stay
sound.
But as you may guess the story has a
happy ending. Frenchie]s joint healed well and he has shown
no signs of his past injury. I went to the North American
Young Riders Championships again and helped take home the team
gold medal in the CCI*.
Our training
rapidly progressed. In 2001 I went to the North American
Young Riders Championships for the third time. This time we
went at the CCI** level which has also been called the Junior
Olympics as the US Olympic Committee oversees and sponsors the
event. We took home the individual silver medal.
The 2003 eventing season was extremely exciting for me as we placed 3rd in the
World Cup Qualifier CIC*** and 5th (out of 92!) at the
Fox Hall National Championship of Eventing CCI*** in the spring.
The US Eventing Association prints horse and rider rankings
throughout the year. The last rankings are current as of
August 4th, 2003. Right now Frenchie is in a 3 way tie
for 8th place on the "top ten horses" list.
I am ranked 10th on the "top ten lady
riders" list and 21st on the "top 50
riders" list. This is very exciting for me as this is
a national ranking comparing me to every other eventer in the
United States.
To learn more about the sport of Eventing please visit http://www.eventingusa.com/about/whatis.htm