AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
Chelsey Hay, 24 University of Alberta (B.Sc. Geology, Honors) APEGA Fund in Geology and Geophysics Class of 2015
‘Geology is a pretty intensive program.
Some university students head home on the weekend to do their laundry or enjoy a home-cooked meal. For Chelsey Hay, heading home to her family’s acreage near Stony Plain, just west of Edmonton, is an opportunity to reconnect with an old friend — her horse, Abby. With her busy schedule as a geology student at the University of Alberta, Ms. Hay had to give up competing with Abby in horse trials, or three-day eventing as it’s also known. Abby is a former thoroughbred racer that Ms. Hay retrained as an event horse. The sport, which includes a mix of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping trials, is often described as an equestrian triathlon. It tests both the rider’s skill and the horse’s physical endurance. Ms. Hay had competed in eventing for more than 10 years before heading off to university. “Eventing is a little bit of an adrenaline sport,” she says. It’s also creates a close bond between rider and horse. “What I love about eventing is the connection with the horse. There’s that aspect to it as well — not only competing, but having a partnership and caring for the horse is addicting.” Growing up on a hobby farm, Ms. Hay learned an apprecia- tion for the outdoors. That’s one reason geology initially appealed Employment is often not an option if you want to do well in school, so any kind of financial support is amazing ’
ROCK ON (left) Ms. Hay holds a piece of coral framestone — a limestone rock containing coral fossils — while hiking on Mount Rae in Kananaskis Country last summer. -photo by Zac Colbran
68 | PEG SUMMER 2015
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