GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) – Every morning at Fonner Park you’ll find horses and trainers preparing for the upcoming racing season, and among them is 17-year-old, Alaska native Jada Bowers.

Bowers is an exercise rider and gallops and works the horses around the track to prepare them for the season.

“Oh I love [working with horses]. Especially when you’ve just got a nice horse that sets its head well, and just goes around and doesn’t pull, or do anything dumb with you, it feels like there’s just nothing better,” Bowers said. “It just kind of feels like it’s just you and the horse and you’re connected to them almost.”

Unlike some riders, she can’t say she’s been riding horses since she was little; she spent her early childhood on the ice and a different dirt track.

“I figure skated a lot, my mom was my coach, and I just went all over the country figure skating and then I raced dirt bikes with my dad,” Bowers said. “Then I went and visited my grandparents and kind of did the ranch lifestyle, but now we made it back to the track. When people ask me how I made it, it’s a really long story but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

She was introduced to horses around age 11, and did rodeos back in Alaska. It wasn’t until she followed her best friend who moved to Nebraska that she fell in love with the race track.

“I originally wanted to go to college to get my AG business degree, but as soon as I got on the track I was like ‘no I don’t want to go to college,” Bowers said while laughing.

The 17-year-old is homeschooled and will finish school in the next few months, and is working to become a jockey so she can ride in the races.

“Eventually I’d like to ride at bigger places. It’s nice to start here because it’s easier to get some mounts, and I know a lot of the people back here so I kind of have a connection, or a relationship with a lot of the trainers,” Bowers said. “But I’ll always come back here just because this is where I started.”

Racing season at Fonner Park starts Saturday, Feb. 15th.

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