Many people ask me, "How do you manage going to school full time, working, internships, and riding horses at the same time?" The answer is simple: time management and careful planning.

In my opinion, you're one of the lucky ones if you get to ride horses during college. Often junior exhibitors age out, go to college, and may not come back to the barn for a while. It can be challenging to balance schoolwork, a social life, jobs and internships, and riding, especially if your horses aren't nearby.

In my case, it's a bit tricky because my horses live with my instructor out of state a three and a half hour drive each way. Balancing my time has to be pretty perfected to make everything run smoothly.

What I've found to work best for me is scheduling morning classes—especially on Friday's so I can get to the barn for the weekend—keeping events and notes written in two planners (and carrying them with me at all times in order to never miss something important), and setting reminders and events in my phone's calendar as well as fitting things into my lunch break and free hours.

I have each and every one of my days scheduled out by the hour, including classes, meals, homework time, yoga classes, work, internships, extra activities, commute times (to the barn and yoga mostly), and time to sleep.

Though it may not seem like it, eating right, drinking enough water, and sleeping enough every day is more important than you think. Taking care of your body determines whether or not you are strong enough and have adequate energy for your activities and riding time.

It's important not to take on too much in college in general, and especially if you plan to ride during college. You'll find going into college that you're busy enough as is, so it's better that you don't join too many clubs, groups, and activities all at once. Try them out and see what you like best, and then maybe choose just one or two for your first year. All these involvements add up, and if you take on too much, soon you're out of time in the day to ride.

Lastly, it's important know your plan isn't always going to be perfect or run smoothly. Sometimes you won't make it out to the barn, because you'll be busy with something else, and that's OK. It's important not to be too hard on yourself and to have fun during this experience. College is just a small time period during the span of your life, and it's important not to miss out on it by stretching yourself too thin. Just do what you can, and remember it's OK to say no. You don't have to be involved in everything each year.