Meet Chimaira S, “Chamie”, a 10-year-old Hanoverian Chestnut mare. Chamie has 3 white fetlock markings and 2 white stripes on her face, on her nose, and on her mid-nose. This sweet mare lives at October Hill Farm in Fort Worth, TX where she and her owner and rider, Ava, train with Christian Heineking.

Ava shares that her trainer’s wife was riding Chamie before she tried and bought her, so she was already at the barn. “The first time I met her was in California standing in the crossties and I thought that she was the cutest animal I have ever seen!”

My favorite memory of this horse was the Las Vegas Horse show in 2019. We were competing in the 1.20m JR division. We had placed 6th the day prior and the final event was left. If you were to place top 12 then you would get a neck sash and that is all I wanted. I was early to go in the order and be the 2nd one clear over the track. A total of 5 people over a course of 20 people made it to the jump-off. I produced a double clear round but had a twist at the end of the jump-off. After the final fence after passing the timer I slid off the side. Even through this, I was not able to be beaten. So that meant I had just won the $10,000 1.25m junior final. I felt as though I was on cloud 9 and is definitely my favorite memory of me and Chimaira’s ever-growing partnership.”, says Ava.

Ava got into horses as a young girl because of her grandmother who rode and had a miniature horse farm. Since she has always adored and felt a special connection to them. At the age of 8, Ava got her very first pony. Ava shares that her favorite thing about owning horses is the love that they have for their job and others.