On EquestrianLife.com they followed a rider a from each of the disciplines. Surprisingly, there were two very nice-looking boys riding: Jacob Fletcher in Eventing (but goodness talk about not the best dressage rider!) and Karl Cook in Showjumping. Both had quite the show record racked up and were riding horses that soembody else owned and that they had only been riding for a very short time. Not something uncommon in the higher ranks of riding - save Gina Miles and MacKinleigh (a favorite eventing duo of mine!) and a select few other riders.
There was one girl, the dressage rider in fact, that really inspired me though. Her story speaks to me, "You don't have to be filthy stinking rich and ride other people's horses and have an already well-established showing record and have a horse already trained for you to get into NAJYRC." Corny, but in a nutshell that's what I thought!
It is expensive to get in though - last I looked the cost racked up about $500+ (the majority of it going to a silly FEI horse passport that cost $300. Seriously now. I could buy a nice synthetic saddle with that money. And do I need a passport if I live in the U.S. already? Last I checked Texas and Kentucky are in the same country!) Regardless....
Her name is Alis Claiborne and her horse is a Dutch Warmblood named Navarro. She is riding a horse that she worked from the ground up. He is 14 years old and she got him three years ago. There's a twist: he was totally unrideable at age 11! My goodness! She began showing him at first and second level after about a year, and then third level the next, and look at them now. They only got a 59.47 score, but they looked pretty dang good to me for a hot green horse and green rider! Congratulations to both of them!
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