What can happen when you ask for help on social media?

Well, Aaliya Jeske and her mother Sindy Jeske, received support from people all across the world winning the Will You Be My Equine Valentine photo challenge. 

Ten-year-old Aaliya has been riding for over five years and when her mother Sindy saw the Alberta Equestrian Federations Valentine photo challenge she knew she had to enter Aaliya. 

“I’m pretty careful about not posting her pictures. She actually has her own separate Facebook group because I'm always worried about putting her out there and attracting people. But she's had kind of a tough year, especially with COVID in the cohorts at school.” 

Sindy says for a lot of young kids it’s been a rough year, and horse riding is one of those things which have helped her daughter push through it. 

“With friendships and relationships this year, it's been tough. And she was starting to feel a little down, to be honest about relationships and people. She's got a lot of joy in her, and she was losing that spark.” 

Along with the struggles of COVID, Aaliyah has also been down lately because her horse Tigerlily has been feeling ill. 

“Her pony Tigerlily has been having some health problems. We're not sure how that's going to work this year, so that was another sad thing that she's had to deal with this summer.” 

But little Aaliya notes the important lesson her mom was trying to show her when she posted the photo, saying “there’s more than just school people that love me.” 

The photo was posted to multiple Airdrie Facebook groups and Sindy says she was not expecting all the support they had received. 

“It was overwhelming to be honest because there were a lot of messages about how it was inspiring to see a person of color riding horses, especially because she does English riding. Which is a predominantly white sport.” 

Sindy is proud to see the influence her daughter has had on the POC (person of colour) community. She says other parents have reached out to thank Aaliya for inspiring their kids. 

“I was getting messages about how they were going to show their children or how they want to share it with other groups to inspire other teenagers to try things that they might not try. Because they're not as represented in appearance in some of those places. So that was really heartwarming to me.” 

Being that February is Black History month, Sindy always tries to teach her daughter about the importance of staying true to yourself. 

“I just try to let her be herself and choose the things that she really wants to do as this horse thing came out of really nowhere.” 

With almost sixteen hundred votes, Aaliya and her mother are happy to see more representation of POC in the equestrian community. 

“I also tried to allow others to use her pictures so that there is more representation in the community on photo pages or whatnot. I feel strongly about getting to see people who look like her out there.” 

Sindy wants to give Aaliya the option to advocate for herself because she knows just how important it is. She says her daughter is feeling strong and confident from all the support she received. 

“We've always had books but Aaliya kind of gets to choose to make her own path and she does very well at that.” 

Aaliya is now excited for her first full show year with the Alberta Equestrian Federation where she hopes her horse Tigerlily and herself can bring the heat to competition. 

Aside from horse riding Aaliya is passionate about bike riding and playing the piano. She also likes tutoring other kids in her school and especially loves Art and Gym. 

Just recently, Aaliya has opened up a new bank account so she can save up for these shows and hopes to bring her horse Tigerlily along for the adventure. 

Aaliyah wants to give a huge thank you to everyone who voted for her. Especially because they brought her spark back. 

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