Fernando Cardenas, DVM, came to the United States from Colombia in 1987. Having grown up around horses, it was only natural for Dr. Cardenas to become an equine veterinarian, opening 3H Veterinary Service in New Hill, North Carolina. But his love of horses expanded past taking care of them. He also had an interest in sport horse performance. He also competes with Quincy Car, his 12-year-old horse, in show jumping, stating that his passion is horseback riding. "Show jumping is the test between the rider and horse to clear 12 to 13 obstacle courses,” Cardenas told WRAL Sports. Cardenas, who calls his horse smart and brave, recently competed at the Pan-American games in Toronto. Now he has his sights on the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “There are many, many people that I competed with that just ride for a living, so I said to myself I was probably one of the very few amateurs competing at this level.” In the upcoming months, Cardenas will continue to work as an equine veterinarian full-time as well as train with Quincy Car for the summer Olympics.
