After her mother passed, sophomore Cody Cummins wanted a find something that kept her mother in mind.

Because of her mother’s love for horses, Cummins was brought to Rudy and Seth.

Cummins has two horses named Rudy and Seth and then a donkey that live in a small paddock at her house.

Three years ago, Cummins and her horses started to compete in various equestrian competitions.

In equestrian events, Cummins competes in Jumper and Hunter. In the Hunter event, the horses and their horsemen are judged solely on appearance, style and movement.

“You have to look beautiful, your horse has to look beautiful,” Cummins said. “It’s very exaggerated and everything has to be perfect. And I’m not perfect  so we don’t really do that.”

Cummins competes in Jumper with her horse, Rudy.

“You can basically say Jumper is like track. You have to go as fast as you can and you can’t knock over any of the jumps, and you can’t fall off your horse,” Cummins said. “You’re cuting corners and it’s a very hard type of discipline.”

Eventually, Cummins plans on competing in the Hunter event with Seth.

Overall, Cummins hopes to train her horses so she can get an equestrian scholarship to Oklahoma State.

For the scholarship, the horse must be able to jump 3’3’’. Originally, Cummins rode Rudy in Jumper events.

“Right now, me and Rudy are jumping 2’11’’ and he can’t go up to three foot so that’s why we’re making Seth a hurdle jumper,” Cummins said.

Cummins trains under the wing of a past OSU equestrian named Rebecca Buchanan.

“She makes it a little bit stressful, a little hard but she makes us condition and makes us ready for the competitions. I’ll go to a competition and I’m not scared, not nervous. I know what I have to do. She makes us figure things out a bit,” Cummins said.

Without question, Cummins wants to continue working with Seth and Rudy after college. 

“We are all very close. When I walk from my house to the barn, they will sometimes come and trot to the gate because they know it’s me,” Cummins said.

Cummins believes that both horses have a lot of personality and she compares Seth to being a big dog.

“He will literally fetch sticks and if I hide behind a tree, we will literally play hide and seek. No joke,” Cummins said.

Compared to Seth, Rudy is definitely shy.

“I have built so much trust with him and every time I’m on him, he strives to make sure I’m safe,” Cummins said.

Cummins has built strong bonds with her horses.

“They’re so sweet and I mean, some people say they don’t have personality but they do. Their personality is all complete,” Cummins said. “They take care of you and they truly care about you. These animals are just incredible because of that.”