Brianne Doolittle can't fully explain her passion for horses.

As she puts it, "It's just one of those things I love to do. If I could spend all day out in the barn I would — but I have to go to school."

When the education sophomore was kicked by a horse in 2002, lost her spleen, 20 percent of her blood and almost her life, she cried only when the doctor told her she couldn't ride again.

Five weeks after Doolittle was released from the hospital, she got back on the horse.

A few years earlier in 2000, her horse ran her through a door. But it wasn't anything knee surgery couldn't fix.

"Nothing really deters me," she said. "It's just like a sport. It becomes your life. You gotta give it all you have if you want to be good. I miss weeks of school to do this — Fridays and Mondays so I can go to horse shows over the weekend."

Doolittle, who lives on a 40-acre farm in Mason, spends about six hours each day tending to her horses' needs — doing everything from feeding and riding them.

During competition season, however, the job can appear a little more glamorous.

In July, Doolittle went to Oklahoma for the National Appaloosa Show, where she said she was awarded four prestigious titles in riding and showing horses. She even beat out professionals for an honor. One of these awards also included $2,000 from the National Snaffle Bit Association.

"I never dreamed I would've done what I did at the nationals," she said.

In November, she traveled to Texas for the World Championship Appaloosa Show, a competition for which contenders must qualify. At this event, she said, she also won prestigious honors.

Though she missed classes last semester because of these competitions, one of Doolittle's former professors didn't mind — she realized her student's deep dedication.

"She takes the initiative to accomplish her goals," said Sue Grady, an assistant professor of geography. "She's really, really focused. She knows what she wants and goes after it. And she works very hard."

If it weren't for her grandfather, Doolittle might not have made it as far as she has. Just as he had supported Doolittle's mother's childhood passion of riding horses, he supported his granddaughter as well. Before he died in April, he relished in attending Doolittle's events.

"He was really sick before he died," she said. "They'd bring him to the horse show and put him in a van in a wheel chair because he wanted to watch me show my new horse.

"When he passed away, my mom got his inheritance and she figured that was what he wanted to see me do. We thought I was showing in his honor because we wouldn't have been able to afford it."

Her parents almost are as invested in Doolittle's passion as she is. Her mother bought Doolittle her first pony when she was 2 years old. Currently, Doolittle has two named Love A Diva and Awe Spicion, which came to her already named.

She also has friends all the way from Canada to Texas who she met during competitions and shows. One of these events even brought her and her boyfriend together.

"My whole life revolves around it," she said.