Delaware State rider Cambrey Hedges is an Aviation major from Springfield, Illinois. The sophomore Western rider competed in nine regular-season meets in Reining, averaging a score of 68.6. This is her story.

I was a little kid when I started my riding journey. I vividly remember having two little ponies that taught me a lot about falling off and even more about falling in love with horses. I grew up watching my mom ride reining, but when I was four years old, I ended up choosing to figure skate. I skated competitively until 2020 and when I decided that my body was too banged up from my time on the ice, and I wanted to spend more time with friends and family. For a while I tried to skate recreationally, but I had been too competitive of a skater to continue with a sport I was no longer competing in. With the financial freedom from skating, my mom asked me if I wanted to take up riding again. It was an immediate yes, at first simply because I wanted something to do with my mom. I started on lesson horses, relearning the ropes of riding. Funnily enough, I wanted to show jump when I restarted my riding career, but all of that changed when I sat on a reining horse for the first time. Her name was Missy, and she was 19 years old when I first sat on her, and I instantly fell in love with the sport of reining. We first stepping into the show pen in 2020, and the rest was history. Stopping has always been my favorite maneuver. Missy taught me so much, and I could never give back what she gave to me: a new passion. 

Eventually, I moved up to a nicer show horse, lovingly known as Bug. Around the time I started riding and showing her was when I learned about the NCEA and riding on a collegiate team. That was when I realized that I had a ton to learn. By the end of my sophomore year of high school, I predominantly showed in the Midwest with hopes to go to the AQHYA World Show. However, right before the start of my junior season, my Bug injured her MCL. My dream of going to the world show, getting recruited, and enjoying my last years of showing as a youth went up in smoke. The next week we had a show in our hometown, and I went to support my team and just enjoyed watching. There was one woman at the show who brought a horse that had not been shown in three years, and she offered for me to show him in the ranch riding and the rookie reining. I barely sat on him but immediately took the opportunity to show him. I ended up showing him a few times throughout the season, and he allowed me to get some great footage for recruiting. From that point and moving forward, I rode any horse that I was given the opportunity to. 

At the beginning of 2023, I got my current horse, Dun Spooken. I got to show him at the NRHA Futurity, and it didn’t exactly do as well as I wanted, but sometimes life is about experiences and lessons. At the Futurity, I made my commitment to Delaware State. DSU offered me so many great opportunities. Not only did they have the equestrian team I so badly wanted, but it also offered an ROTC program that allowed me to fly helicopters. I'm now a rated helicopter pilot with aspirations to fly for the U.S. Army after I graduate. 

My time in the NCEA thus far has been incredible. I was lucky enough to be a starter my freshman year. It was a little bit of a shock, as NCEA riders make things look so much easier than they are, but it was a challenge I was excited to embrace. I struggled with the adjustment to riding and showing random horses, but it allowed me to develop more as a rider. I rode every single horse I could and learned something from each one. I started my sophomore year riding the best I ever had, and it truly showed. I was lucky to have a solid fall season, but at the end of the fall, I suffered a knee injury during an Army ruck for the ROTC program. It ended up being a knee fracture. When it happened, I thought I was not going to be able to ride, but with some physical therapy and a lot of ice, the doctors allowed me to continue riding and competing while closely monitoring my knee. I knew I'd be able to push through the pain to keep riding and enjoying the rest of the season, and something about that injury allowed me to come back even stronger in the spring. I took every opportunity in ride and stayed grateful for the ability to keep going. Spring of 2026 has been my best season yet. I got to ride so many incredible horses and just enjoy the journey with my team. I feel blessed to continue to do what I love inside and outside of the arena, and continue to enjoy life's little moments.