Aliina Keers

This is Aliina Keers from Carbon River Pony Club in the Northwest Region. She is an HB, taking her C3 rating August 1st through 3rd. "It's a lot to pack in right before I head to Championships--I have one day between my rating and departure for California which happens to be my birthday! I'll be turning 22, making me "really old" as some of the younger members in my club like to say. :)" Aliina says.

My name is Aliina Keers
 I really like my grandma's macaroni and cheese. She makes it with large macaroni and adds a splash of milk with the cheese to make it extra creamy on the inside and browns the top crust so that it's crispy and delicious.
 The best part about Pony Club is the horse management. For the last few years, I've been working at rallies on the HM staff in the Northwest and Oregon regions and really enjoying it. I actually had to turn down my first Chief position for a D rally because I'll be at Championships!
 Hanging out with my teammates! I was really excited to learn who my catch team was--they're all people I've met before at various PC functions and I feel like it's going to be a blast in our tackroom. One girl is in my club currently, another used to be, I've catch-rode with our stable manager a few years ago, and I've loaned out my horse to our other rider for a foxhunt last winter. It's cool that I have already formed connections with everyone on my team and will be able to compete together.
 Lily is my 11 year old Thoroughbred. She's bossy and more manly than the two geldings that she usually lives with. While she can be cranky enough leave permanent bitemark (battle scar) on my arm, she actually likes her face held and her ears gently pulled. She can cuddle like that for hours, but shhhhhh! If she knew I'd spoiled her fearsome reputation, she'd probably be upset. ;)
 I'm actually really geeky. I don't have time for other sports between horseback riding and college, but I like reading, writing, and sewing costumes. I usually make several costumes a year and showcase them at conventions.
 Besides Lily, I have another horse named Chester. He's pretty spunky for his twenties and has taken care of a lot of my friends on their first foxhunts. I also share a cat with my sister. His name is Beowulf and he has a catch-and-release method with the field mice.
 My first day of college at the University of Washington, I arrived in my first class which was Finnish language. I didn't speak a word of it and the professor decided to just immerse us immediately into it by not speaking English for the first half. Us students learned how to say basic greetings and introduce ourselves by pointing and mimicking what the professor said. It seemed to be going very well, until the teacher switched to English, sat us all down, and asked us to explain why we had decided to take *Danish.* I was really embarrassed and found out that Finnish and Danish classes had switched rooms with each other the day before!