Freshman Kaitlyn Mathis has “the bug”, as her aunt calls it.

Once you get into riding horses, you never want to stop.

“You don’t want to stop being around [horses],” Mathis said. “You just want to keep learning. It’s almost like an addiction.”

Mathis has been riding horses for eight years, following in her mother and aunt’s footsteps.

“I really love it,” Mathis said. “I’m a really competitive person.”

But when Mathis gets a concussion, she has to stop.

With getting a concussion four times, being out of riding horses isn’t anything new to her.

The most recent of her concussions came when she tripped down the landing stairs and hit her head.

“I’m kind of clumsy,” Mathis said. “… I felt really weird [when I got the concussion].”

She was just recently cleared after a few weeks but hasn’t fully gone back into riding horses again.

Since Mathis’ parents are getting a divorce, Mathis has decided to sit out this competitive season of riding horses and hopes to be back next year – without a concussion. If Mathis gets another concussion, her father will make her sit out of riding horses for a few years.

Although she isn’t competing this season, she tries to go ride her horse at least once or twice a week. Even when she can’t ride because of her concussion, she likes to go be around her horse, Tommy.

“Even if I’m having a [bad] day, my horse will make me feel better,” Mathis said. “They’re really amazing animals.”