Annie Laurie Cook

  Always striving to give both horse and rider the most sound and competitive edge possible, EquiFit, inc. continues to raise expectations by combining innovative designs and functional ideas with technologically advanced materials. As a rider, founder Alexandra Cherubini searched long and hard for state-of-the-art equipment and gear. Unable to find what she envisioned on the market, she set out with a team of orthopedists to research and develop performance-enhancing equestrian solutions.

  Meet West Coast Sales Rep Melissa Hill in vendor row where all the innovative EquiFit products are on display.

  Melissa Hill: 917-683-1069 • EquiFit.net

  We are pleased to announce the launch of www.fremonthillsllc.com – Wendy, Debbi and Missy of Fremont Hills were also featured in this month’s edition of California Riding Magazine.

  And we are excited to hear about all of the West Coast coverage planned in upcoming issues of The Chronicle of the Horse. Wishing the best to riders at Spruce, Europe and here at home.

  Keep the feedback coming, we love hearing from all of you...

A Chat with Ricky, Paris and Lucy

BY KATIE KOTARAK & JACKIE MCFARLAND

  July 22nd – 26th: The 2009 Adequan FEI North American Junior / Young Rider Championships (NAYJRC), presented by Gotham North, will be at the Kentucky Horse Park. After undergoing a complete redesign for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), qualified young riders will have the honor of competing on the same turf as the 2010 WEG competitors.

  Performing in three qualifying classes this past week, the scores for the Zone 10 North American Junior and Young Rider ‘A’ and ‘B’ Teams were tallied and teams determined. Amongst the ten, four on the Young Rider Team plus an alternate and four on the Junior Rider Team plus an alternate, three of the riders who train with Dick Carvin and Susie Schroer – Ricky Neal, Paris Sellon and Lucy Davis – took time to talk with us.

About Linda Allen’s tests this week:
  Although each of them had garnered qualifying points before the show, all were acutely aware how important their results were this past week. With the chance to gain valuable points, Sunday’s class was mandatory, scored at 1.5x and consisted of two rounds. All agreed it was big and technical. Professional Jenni Martin McAllister concurred. Also competing in the 1.45m class that served as a qualifier, she commented, “It was a difficult course. My mare who shows at this level was impressed, as was I.”

Ricky: Although intense, it’s nice to compete in a similar format to NAJYRC. No other zone does qualifying like ours, so we are prepared for what’s to come and I think it shows.

Lucy: It’s nice to be rewarded for consistency and make the team, as well as for riding well under pressure. Last year I qualified because I won on Sunday, this year today was not my best day.

Paris: I was leading coming into this week, but I had a rough time Thursday and Friday. Today was my best day and it was similar to what we’ll see at Young Riders, so that feels good.

About making the team:
  Qualifying was a top priority for all three riders – they planned their 2009 show schedules around it. They all look forward to competing at the WEG facility.

Ricky: It’s nice to see who made the teams. The competition was tough and I think we have some of our best on both teams. Paris: We did go through a lot this year to qualify, but I think it will pay off.

Lucy: Last year I learned so much. It’s one of the few shows where we get to be there the entire week (no school) and we are able to spend more time with our horses, our friends and focus on just the one event.

About the NAYJRC course designer, Olaf Petersen Jr.:
  Olaf designed last year and will return this year. All riders agreed Olaf builds tough and technical courses. Lucy and Mister Mind did not drop a single rail in 2008 – the pair rode five clean rounds and were the only ones to do so.

More About NAJYRC:
  Since 1979, these Championships have showcased the best young rider and junior horse/rider combinations in the three Olympic disciplines of Dressage, Eventing and Jumping. In 2008, the Western discipline of Reining was added, bringing the best young athletes, ages 14-21, in four of the high performance equestrian disciplines together for the first time.

  Showjumping teams are invited from the twelve Zones in the United States, each Canadian Province, Mexico and the Caribbean to compete for team and individual medals. The Championships are designed to mirror the competition format used at the Olympic and Pan American Games. In addition, the Championships offer riders the opportunity and experience of competing as a member of a team. (Adapted from youngriders.org & usef.org)

BY LAURA WARE

  Back in October of 2008 I was excited to read that the USHJA was creating the Emerging Athlete’s Program (EAP). Geared towards discovering and teaching young people who are dedicated to becoming the best riders and horsemen possible, I was happy it began while I was still young enough to participate. The application, which I eagerly completed, contained questions about academics, extracurricular activities, and riding accomplishments. I was thrilled to be chosen to participate in the 3’6” section on my young jumper Westin.

  The clinic, given by Melanie Smith Taylor, was split into three sections: 3’, 3’6”, and 4’, with no more than eight riders each. The first day, we did trot rails, a circle of four jumps, and a relatively straightforward course. The trot rails were spaced one step, two steps, then one step apart, and the circle of jumps was set so the rider could put either two or three strides between the fences, which were actually just small flower boxes with potted plants as standards. Melanie really focused on increasing our awareness of our horse’s feet. She had us do an exercise where we would back up four steps, go forward four steps, and then decrease the amount of steps until we were just shifting our horse’s weight forward and backwards, without actually moving their feet. The idea was that this shifting of our horse’s weight at the halt would be similar to the feeling of rebalancing our horses back over their hindquarters while cantering on course.

  The second day, the exercises were more technically challenging and Melanie was a bit more demanding. I loved it. Of course, I had my fair share of problems, but I learned so much about what I need to do to improve myself and my horse, and being able to figure my way out of some of the problems presented improved my confidence in my riding abilities. Similar to the first day, we did more trot and canter rails – Melanie had been unimpressed with our performance over the trot cavaletti the previous day. We also practiced exercises that forced us to dramatically lengthen and shorten our horse’s stride. In our flatwork, we cantered over a long bounce to a short bounce at one end of the ring, to a short one stride to a long one stride, all ground rails, at the other end. During the 3’ session, I stood next to the rails so I could re-position them as the horses displaced them, and I felt bad every time I had to close the gap between them – they were set so short! Though Westin had been really good with the trot rails, we had some problems with the cantering elements. He wasn’t keen on the idea of putting his feet between such closely placed poles – he found it much easier to just take one big, awkward leap over them! However, after a few corrections, he figured out how short he needed to make his stride, and did the exercise quite well.