When you've done something for as long as Avery Bracken has, it becomes second nature. Familiarity leads to comfort, comfort leads to confidence, confidence leads to proficiency.

And proficiency produces results.

A sixth-grader at Landis Run Intermediate School, Avery has been around horses and riding and barns for most of her natural life. "I just always remember being at the barn and being around horses," said Avery. "I've always loved it. It's so amazing to me; it's special to my heart."

She has developed a passion for horseback riding, and that passion has evolved into a love for the sport of hunter/jumper.

"I think she's learned where hard work gets you," said Avery's mom, Kristin Bracken. "She's incredibly responsible. It's her priority. She wants to spend time at the barn. At school, she's a really good student. Her horse depends on her to take care of it."

Avery rides five or six days a week, and she and her pony Sweetie compete at 15 to 20 judged hunter/jumper events in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York throughout the year. She recently participated in a pair of season-ending events - the Horse Shows in the Sun's Marshall & Sterling Finals in Saugerties, N.Y., and then the United States Hunter Jumper Association Zone Two Finals in Princeton, N.J.

"I used to teach and ride full-time," said Kristin. "I'd bring her to work with me, and she was at the barn from 3 months on. She started riding when she could walk. She's been raised with horses. She's really come a long way. She's ridden a lot of inexperienced ponies, and she's had to learn to deal with the difficult ones. Now she's more educated as far as her riding goes. She understands that ponies are going to have bad days."

"When you're up there (on the pony), you're very independent," said Avery. "It's helped me grow as a person. It's helped me become patient. I work hard. If it goes well, it goes well. If it goes bad, it goes bad."

Through her experience, Avery has formed a physical and mental bond with Sweetie. When they compete, it's not as rider and pony; it's as one.

"I have so much to think about when I'm up there," said Avery. "You've got to try to be calm. I guess it's just the way I ride. I can feel the way she moves and she goes. I've gotten used to it, and we have this connection. But the pony is really a good girl. She helps me out a lot."

"There has to be a good connection," said Kristin. "There's a lot of time on the ground. Bonding is really important. The child has to trust the pony, and the pony has to trust the child. They're connected, and that's why they've had a lot of success. I think anyone can have that connection, but you've got to put the time in."

A form of horseback riding, hunter/jumper is a sport contested inside a ring that requires rider and horse to work together to navigate a series of jumps and other obstacles.

"A lot of my friends at school have no idea what hunter/jumper is," said Avery. "They know I ride, but they don't know the dedication that goes into it. They're very supportive."