Emily Prather (pictured, with her sister’s horse) drew inspiration from her sister and is pursuing an equine SAE of her own.
For some FFA members, deciding what to pursue for a supervised agricultural experience (SAE) is a no-brainer.
Emily Prather knew she wanted to follow in her older sister Riley’s footsteps. “She got a mare last year, and I loved watching her work with her horse,” says the sophomore from the Big Timber FFA Chapter in Big Timber, Mont. “On a good day – I can’t even put it into words – they worked as such a great team, and it was so cool to watch. I wanted to do it, too.”
Thanks to a $1,000 SAE grant from Corteva Agriscience (one of only 10 of its kind offered nationwide for any SAE type), Prather’s goal is close to reality. She’ll be using the funds to bring home her own horse, hopefully before the fall. “Without [the grant], I’d have had to work a lot more and purchase the mare a lot later,” she says.
“I was very shocked [to win]. I didn’t think I’d receive it, especially at the national level, but I’m very happy and very grateful,” Prather says. “It’s helping me accomplish a dream I’ve wanted for a long time.”
Specifically, she has wanted to learn more skills — training, riding and potentially breeding in the future – with her own yearling. “I want to be able to have my own facilities and do my own thing,” she says. As for building this experience into a career, “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” she adds with a laugh.
For now, the focus is simply to build a bond. “I really just want to have a strong connection with the horse, and for her to be people-friendly, but also hardworking when she needs to be,” says Prather, who plans to spend the majority of her free time at the stable.
Training her horse will add a line item to the list of things Prather “wouldn’t be able to do without FFA,” which also includes learning key leadership skills and developing the confidence to speak in crowds. “There’s so much I’ve learned because of FFA,” she says. “It’s really impacted my family members’ lives a lot.”
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