Current Junior Barn Helpers

Olenka is 21 years old and has been riding with us since she was 10. She has a passion for horses and an innate ability to connect with their unique personalities. She currently studies Equestrian Science at Pierce College and works at Ride On Therapeutic Riding Barn in Chatsworth.

Her younger sister Kalyna is 16 and also loves riding ponies as well as the biggest, strongest horses she can find! Kalyna would one day like to be an equine vet. She is kind, strong, knowledgeable and brings joy to teaching and everything else she does with horses. 

Olenka and Kalyna are currently in training at MCP European Equestrian Stables where they practice their favorite pastime…jumping! 

All of the money they earn at WHF goes directly towards their lessons and furthering their goals in the horse world. 

My name is Luci and I started my riding journey with a pony ride at WHF. Since then I have been training at Millcreek Equestrian Center and Chad Mahaffey Stables.

I love helping with the parties and getting people over their fears of horses. It’s great being able to connect with such a beautiful animal such as a horse. It’s amazing how you can go from being terrified of horses to never being able to take your mind off of them.

I also like riding the WHF ponies. I think riding them has helped me get better. I remember when I couldn’t even get the horse that I was riding over the jump and now I am a much better rider than I used to be. The money that I get from the parties goes to paying for my riding equipment and lessons. It makes me happy making other people happy and I hope you enjoy WHF as much as I do.

Hello I am Vera! I am 14 and a natural athlete. I have been on a swim team since I was in kindergarten and as soon as I was old enough I qualified to be a Jr. Lifeguard. I am also wicked fast and one of the fastest runners at my school. I love out running the boys! 

Horses are my greatest love and flying on horse back is what my dreams are made of. I have been riding for the last 6 years. I have ridden the smallest ponies to fierce bullfighting Lusitanos. I am learning to jump and it is so fun! Working with horses has helped me be more outgoing and not hide in the shadows.

I love to help with the birthday parties and pony rides because I get to share my love of horses with others! I take lessons once a week and pay for those lessons with my money earned at WHF. I really enjoying buying my friend Luci and I ice cream after birthday parties for our hard work.

Past Junior Barn Helpers

In Maya's own words:  I am 16 years old and have been riding all sorts of horses since I was 9. I have a passion for beautiful beasts and have been volunteering at Return to Freedom a wild horse sanctuary since I was 7.

I plan to use the money I earn to pay for myself to go on a service trip to Namibia to help preserve and photograph the local leopard populations. I am not exactly sure what I want to do when I get older, but I know I want to do something with art and environmental conservation.

Wies is a 17 years old High School junior who has been pet sitting for WHF and riding our ponies for many years. She loves children and animals and is excited to give pony rides to children of all ages.

Her passions are making music and caring for animals in equal measure.

She just purchased a laptop with her own money for composing music and is hoping to get a large monitor with the money she is earning at WHF. She is also saving for college to study and become a veterinarian technician.

Her future dreams include one day setting up an animal rescue center to help all types of displaced critters.

Sara is 14 years old and has a passion for dance, computer animation and Percy the Pig. 

She is currently saving up for a Mac Sketch Pad and is using her earnings from WHF to help reach that goal.

Who knows, maybe a dancing Percy the Pig will star in of one of her animated films one day?