Equestrian athlete Natalie Jones wasn't really a horse crazy girl at first. Her sister was more into that kind of stuff. But since the former Albion Elementary School student jumped onto that first horse, she became head over heals in love with her sport. The Maple Ridge resident grew up riding horses under the tutelage of Pitt Meadows's Danalynn Rooks, who taught her everything from caring for her horses to learning how to negotiate jumps. Langley's Eddie Macken, a legendary Irish equestrian show jumper and trainer for the 2004 Irish Olympic team, has also been a huge influence. He has helped her to ride at a higher and higher level. Thomas Haney Secondary School administrators and teachers did their best to help her graduate high school on time despite the fact that she was away, attending equestrian competitions, on many occasions during the school year. Jones has progressed well in her sport, having had a successful 2006 summer season at Calgary's Spruce Meadows, where she and horse Connor cleaned up at an international horse jumping competition featuring some of the top junior and amateur riders. In the Prix de Nations, she was the anchor rider and turned in a flawless performance, going double clear to win the Nations-Cup style event for the Canadian team. Because of her successes during her events, Jones was chosen to compete in the Final Four, a competition with a twist. She and the other three riders rode each other’s horses as well as their own. Jones, who had two minutes to get used to each new horse, ended up winning the Final Four. While her career looks promising and she has set her sights on one day making the Canadian Olympic team, she's also happy with simply riding her horses and having fun. But she is on the path to living her dream.