IEA Team Meet at Findlay - Horsemanship

Joining this IEA team has had so many good things come out of it besides just meeting new friends and having fun.  Equestrian Girl has shown she can have good equitation riding any horse and not just her own and her confidence in riding these horses has blossomed like crazy.  I know she's just as proud of herself as we are of her.  This meet was no exception.  It was tough competition with a lot of teams there to compete since it's one of the few northern meets in a heated arena!  University of Findlay has a beautiful facility and practically dust free.  It was amazing and they provided some really nice horses too.

EG drew this cute Paint gelding for horsemanship.  You only get to mount a few minutes before the class starts to have time for the handler to tell you a little bit about the horse and for your coach to adjust your stirrups.  It's just a quick consultation and then they are off to ride.

The stands on both sides of the arena were full. We had over 100 riders in this meet.

Equestrian Girl caught the judge's eye on her first pass and he kept a close eye on her the rest of the ride.

Always upright and looking confident even when the horse is going a little fast or acting up.

And especially when he's giving her a pretty little jog that would impress any western pleasure rider.

The girl on the horse behind her stuck to the rail pushing Madison off of it to stay out front.  It wasn't what she'd normally do in a western class but it worked.

Made her stand out from the crowd even though she did have a good rail position with most of the other horses clumped together on the other side of the arena.

And the winner was....Equestrian Girl!!!