4:100 People I meet "ANTOINETTE "TONI" LEVISTE (knowns/unknowns)
An athlete, pinoy's pride, Ms. Toni Leviste is known for her equestrian sport. Toni is the daughter of the former Governor of Batangas, Jose Antonio "Tony" Leviste and Celia Sarangaya Leviste. Many of us are not that informed on this sport since we often see this specially here in the Philippines. Just a bit knowledge about equestrian, it is more often known as horse riding or horseback riding which refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeple chasing or vaulting with horses and sometimes played with obstacles. This sport is most popular in Sweden, also in the US, Asia, and Australia.
Toni Leviste is one of the Filipino's pride in equestrian sports. She started her love for horseback riding at an early age and got her first award at year 1999 when she won a third-place award in the little-known Sunshine tour grand prix which was held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. She was the first equestrian to represent a country within the Southeast Asian Region in the World Cup Show Jumping Finals held at Goteborg, Sweden. In 2002 Asian Games, Leviste won the team silver along with Mikee Cojuanco-Jaworski in the team jumping event. She also joined several regional tournaments. Now she already owns a 5-hectare Equestrian park in the outskirts of Lipa, City, Batangas, Philippines. You might be asking how did she felt affection for this sport.
She began to fall in love with horses as she narrate, at a young age. Morethan the medals, it is more important for her to represent the country for the said sports. That is how dedicated she is and joining equestrian competitions seems like her fairy tale. One thing I also admire from her is how she dedicate her every competition for her country.
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Being on this sport takes much courage and requires much training, concentration/focus, and self discipline, not to mention the costs to maintain and have your own horse. You would not believe how many times did she had bone fractures due to falling from the horses but nothing would stop her in reaching her goals. Indeed it is always our passion that will keep us going no matter how hard our roads will be. Aside from joining several competitions, she is now training young ones on this field as she desire to pass on her passion to them. Most of the time Toni spends time in her equestrian farm in Lipa City, Batangas province to practice and train young athletes. 
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