Millie Albritton is joined by the entire Tiftarea Academy senior class Wednesday morning, minutes after she signed an equestrian scholarship with Wesleyan.

TIFTON — Millie Albritton inked the first known equestrian scholarship at Tiftarea Academy Wednesday morning.

Albritton will be joining Macon’s Wesleyan College on the Ryan’s Hope Equestrian Scholarship, valued between $1,000-3,000, according to the college’s website.

Jessica Denniston, equestrian head coach at Wesleyan, said at the signing that she bumped into Albritton by chance. Glancing at Albritton, Denniston said, “I think you were meant to go to Wesleyan.”

Albritton said the meeting with Denniston came, oddly enough, when Albritton was attempting to sell a horse.

“That opened the door,” Albritton said.

Albritton is a longtime rider.

“I’ve been riding since fourth grade,” she said, “so, eight years.”

Among her competitions was the state horse show in Perry last summer.“

Wesleyan competes in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, belonging to Region 3 in Zone 5, along with colleges such as Clemson, South Carolina, Furman and Georgia Southern.

Going to Wesleyan has advantages for Albritton. She said she had a sister living in the Macon area and already has the distance memorized to Macon — 99 miles.

Albritton plans on majoring in biology in college, with a pre-veterinary path. Not surprisingly, she said she would like to work with horses.

Tiftarea coach Joe Barkman opened the signing ceremony describing the scholarship, calling it “an acknowledgement of something she loves dearly.”

Barkman said that it shows that there are scholarships available for anyone, “if you love something and stick with it.”