One of the finalists in this year's Tom Pettit Thanksgiving Essay Competition, Kirista Rabain was thankful for "good hearted people," in particular Catrina and Aaron Sims of Spicelands Riding Stables.

They provided the 17-year-old Berkeley Institute student "with everything I need to be in the sport: knowledge, equipment and, most importantly, a pony, Shamrock Golden Eye."

Here Kirista, 2007 "Rookie of the Year," explains what it is like to race harness ponies.

I got into harness racing when I stopped riding horses.

My riding coach at the time, Catrina Sims, was racing with her husband Aaron, and so she said she would talk to him about me helping him out with training the ponies.

Within that week I was jogging ponies and going to races. I was then given an "assigned" pony to train, so it soon became my commitment.

I was jogging ponies for the first year and at the same time learning a lot about this sport I knew nothing about.

The relationship I have with my Ceramic (on formal occasions Shamrock Golden Eye) is more than just that of a human and an animal.

I see him more as my buddy and try to consider his needs before my wants. I have been told that I spoil him, but as long as he is happy and content, I will continue to spoil him.

When I walk into the barn and say "Hey, Ramic," he perks his ears up and runs to the door for me to greet him. I sit outside his stall some days and he comes to the door and rests his head in my lap and falls sleep.

One time, I remember, I was sitting outside his stall, petting him, and ended up falling sleep in the chair.

Ramic then became bored and placed his muzzle on my knee; he then began to rub his muzzle back and forth on my leg until I woke up.

I shooed him away but he just came back and started again so I gave him a few pats and he eventually stopped.

The sport of harness racing requires a lot of commitment. You can't "just not feel like it" because in the end your true commitment will show on the track.

These ponies need to be jogged almost everyday for about 25-30 minutes.

Along with that you must clean their stalls and feed morning and night; this is all a daily routine.

I go to the stable everyday after school for at least two hours to care for the ponies.

Some of the joys that come with racing are seeing where your hard work has paid off.

All those days of jogging can become boring, but when you get to the racetrack and see your pony run so well, you get a feeling of accomplishment.

It's an even better feeling when you are in the bike and you're behind a pony and then you pull out and start to go around the pony that was once in front of you to win the race.

In most races the ponies start off side by side then fall into single file, and on the last lap they all try to go around the pony in front of them, making the race a photo finish.

In harness racing you may not think there is much you can do internationally.

OK, they don't have this sport in the Olympics, but there are many places in Canada and United States you can travel to and experience racing on a whole new level.

If you really want to get serious, you can get into standard-bred racing which is the same thing just with horses instead of ponies, and that's where you can earn big money. Keep in mind the saying, "More money equals more problems".

In Bermuda this sport is taken mostly as a hobby, but now days it seems to be getting more and more competitive.