‘Really love this’: Mtn. View HS athlete taking equestrian career D-1, continuing family love of horses

(Update: Adding video, interviews with Makenna, her mom)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- This fall, Mountain View senior Makenna Bomke signed her letter of intent signed her letter of intent for equestrian, at Southern Methodist University, or SMU in Dallas, the No. 1 equestrian school in the country. 

While she’s also a varsity soccer and basketball player, she says there’s something different about competing in a sport, which requires so much dedication, experience and connection with another living creature.

Makenna and her family got Louie, one of their 10 horses, around three years ago.

He quickly became Makenna's favorite.

“Brushing him helps keep their hair coat healthy, so they’re not all muddy and gross,” she said while preparing Louie to ride. 

“They’re competitive horses, so we try to treat them like athletes. So we always try to do everything we can in their interest to help them with that Sometimes they've got to look pretty.”

Makenna, a senior at Mountain View, grew up on the family's ranch in Bend, raising and riding horses.

“My mom drinks coffee most mornings, when we’re riding before school. It's just kind of like our second home, basically,” Makenna said. 

Her mom, Jennifer, attributes the scholarship offer to her daughter's passion and respect for horses.

“At some point, I just looked at my daughters, and I thought: 'Oh, my goodness! I think they’re doing this for themselves -- like, they really love this!'” Jennifer recalled.

Equestrian is a sport judged for points, or by speed.

“We were 10 and 11, and we were beating 17-year-olds,” Makenna said about her sister and herself. “That’s when it really hit, and when I started putting in the work and the time.”

Makenna gets up every day around 5:30 in the morning to train in the heat, snow, rain or any condition. 

“All the pressure is on you,” Makenna said of equestrian. “You don’t have a teammate with you there, besides your horse, and hopefully he comes out ready that day to go.”

Scholarships, and even equestrian teams were not around when mom Jennifer was riding.

“The NCAA did not have equestrian D-1 riding, so it was never even in the clouds or in the dreams,” Jennifer said. 

Today, SMU is the No. 1 equestrian school in the country.

Jennifer said she is excited to see her daughter compete at the highest level -- but more importantly, do something she loves.

“It brings me so much joy when she rides, as you can see in my tears,” Jennifer said, as the tears came. “I just couldn’t see a better way to end this chapter here in Bend, Oregon. I just … I'm so thrilled."

Jennifer continued in her praise. 

“I don't even know if proud is the right word,” Jennifer said. “I love her so much. I guess I am proud, at the end of the day -- of course I am."

When competing in college, Makenna will ride one of the school's horses, not her own.

She said with the amount of riding she’s done in her young life, she feels more than capable of adapting to a horse on the fly.

Makenna plans to major in business, and have some property -- and horses, of course -- of her own some day.