Donatella competes in gymkhana

If you ask Cheyenne Donatella what gymkhana horse back riding is she’ll tell you, “It’s another type of sport for horse back riding. It’s sort of like barrel racing except for that in gymkhana we have nine different courses. They place barrels and poles in a certain pattern depending on which event it is and we must do the course in the fastest time.”

If you ask her what gymkhana is to her she’ll tell you something completely different. She’ll tell you gymkhana is another life to her, something she wants to continue and something that means a great deal to her. When you talk to Donatella you can tell just how passionate she really is.

Donatella considers horse riding her whole life because she has always lived on a ranch. She has been competing in gymkhana horse back riding since she was seven years old and she is quite the star at it. Each gymkhana competition has around forty to fifty competitors and so far this year she has won twelve out of twelve competitions. Competitions vary from states to regional’s to locals. She has been riding her horse, Bear, for the last two years and she rides him in every competition. She was very proud to tell me she had trained himself.

When you talk to Donatella about her success at gymkhana she is completely modest. She is proud of herself, but it doesn’t go to her head. She is friends with many of her competitors which competing fun for her.