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| Mid South Pony Club Rally, 2000 |
How my parents found out about Pony Club, I do not know. I imagine some of the people we saw at 4H and Bridle & Saddle Club shows were members; the club's longtime DC (district commissioner, kind of like the president of the club for those not in the know) lived a few miles down the road from us.
At age 10, I was inducted to Cedar Hills Pony Club, a large club serving areas of Middle Tennessee far south of Nashville. The club's primary equestrian discipline was eventing, and so an eventer I became.
Since my family couldn't afford to pay for me to compete in many events, I supplemented my horses' show routine with jumper shows, hunter classes, and dressage shows. I never placed very well, but as I got older, I didn't care as much about placing as I did about getting mileage on myself and my mounts. Still, I always enjoying eventing more than any other sport. (I liked jumpers second-best.)
In college, I received a scholarship to ride hunt seat for the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. I was no equitation superstar, but UTM had just made the switch from IHSA to NCAA competition and needed riders who could competently pilot a questionable group of horses over fences. The team did IHSA for one year I was a member, then moved to the head-to-head format of NCAA meets. I never enjoyed hunt seat competitions.
After college, I moved to Wichita, Kansas, where I signed up for polo lessons. I loved polo. I think, perhaps, had I been better at hitting the ball, I would have taken up polo instead of returning to eventing.
Having attempted a variety of different disciplines, I think I keep coming back to eventing for a few reasons:
- It's fun! I'm an adrenaline junkie and few things match the thrill of cross-country.
- It's (fairly) objective. In two of three phases, you are not judged on how you look, but on how you and your horse perform. Are you fast enough? Are you jumping cleanly? Is your horse doing what he's asked?
- You can really express yourself through attire on the cross-country course.
- The eventing community is supportive and full of nice people. (At least in my experience.)
- Any horse can be an eventer! There's no certain look or lines that eventers require! Just find a horse that jumps safely and reliably and can also not jump out of the dressage arena.
What about y'all? What disciplines/divisions do you ride in? Why? Have you tried others?
4 comments:
Awesome, I do believe that people should try out multiple disciplines so they can find one they truly love. I started out riding Dressage, I rode for 2 years. I was going to move on to Eventing but my mom thought it was a bit too dangerous so I went to a H/J barn and I fell in love with Equitation.
I'm a hunter/jumper through and through. I've tried western some, and open AQHA style showing and some dressage... but h/j keeps calling me back. I would love to try reining though.
I think dressage is a great way to start; if you have a good instructor, you learn the fundamentals in a solid way and with a clear path of increasing difficulty. (As opposed to trotting one lesson, and leg yielding the next or something equally silly.)
I'd love to try reining, too! Those sliding stops and spins look like so much fun! Did you enjoy showing on the AQHA circuit?
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