IUP Western Team Spring Show and Regionals Update

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

Last weekend was our IHSA Spring show, hosted by West Virginia University. I know I have said it before, but I want to say it again. The WVU team did a great job of hosting. I always enjoy their shows.

Liz, Becky, Me and Becky's Mom, making a game plan as to how to ride the square in their pattern.

My girls made me proud as always.

Results are below.

Beginner Western Horsemanship

Courtney placed 4th in both shows. I really liked this outfit on her. Courtney is the rider that just makes everything fun. She graduates this year, and I will miss her. I will miss her whining, her laughter and her twist on life. I know my daughter, Morgan, will feel like she has lost her soul mate.

Danielle placed 3rd in the morning show and second in the afternoon show. She should have been first in the afternoon. I and the two other stewards were blown away at the first place pick. I won't say anything more about it.



Kelly is brand new to showing IHSA and she did fantastic at her first show. She dealt with crowding and with a young man riding his horse right in to her. She made me proud with how she just took it all in stride. Kelly placed 5th in the morning show and 6th in the afternoon.

Intermediate Horsemanship II

Carrie showed as well this past weekend. She was in a tough class. Carrie and I have some work to do on body position. She performed her pattern well under pressure. She placed 6th in the afternoon class.


Novice Western Horsemanship

Amy is one of those riders who makes a coach think hummmm..... I have watched her riding improve steadily over the last few years. She has all the tools she needs to be a great rider. Occasionally, though she does not believe in herself even when others do. Her morning ride was tough. It was a testament as to how important it is to go into the ring with the thought in your head that you are the best in there. Amy unfortunately had other thoughts I believe. Her afternoon class was better, but she still had doubts about her abilities. I was proud though, she improved from her morning ride and as a Coach that is all I ask of My Girls, to continue to improve and achieve their own personal best.

Lark also is new to IHSA, but not to showing. I watched her this past summer show her Appy at some local shows and do a great job with her. When I found out she would be attending IUP, I asked her to consider joining the team. She surprised me in her abilities this weekend. I was not sure how she would take to riding a horse she knew nothing about, nor have the chance to really see what she had in a horse before going into the ring. Imagine my surprise when she took to it like a duck to water. She looked confident and comfortable. She placed 3rd in the morning show. She did not place in the afternoon. I'm still scratching my head on that, but I felt she had a great ride.

Open Western Horsemanship

Becky is one of those riders that you just know is going to make it to the top. When she classed up from Novice, I bumped her up to the Open Horsemanship Class, skipping Advanced Western Horsemanship. I have done this once before with great results. Becky is in a class where the competition is fierce, riding against some of the best riders in the country. This was only her 2nd and 3rd time in the Open Class. I could not have been more proud. Watching the confidence in her as she learned to maneuver a horse she had never ridden was awe inspiring. I know she will become a rider others will envy.


Open Reining

This was Becky's first time competing in IHSA Open Reining. I was extremely happy with both her rides. She placed 5th and 6th against those same riders in her Open Horsemanship class. Very respectable places when your in that type of company. We have a few things we need to work on to improve her, but she is a stellar student and I know she will shine next season.

Class 13 Regional Class

This was a heart breaker for me as well as Becky. She showed a tough horse who can be difficult at times. Becky executed not only her rail work, but her pattern flawlessly and she knew it. Unfortunately, the judge felt differently and placed her 4th which kept her from moving on to semi-finals.

The video below shows her rides.

Alumni Horsemanship

Before I go much further, I have to give a big thank you to Anna and Sara. Without them, Elizabeth would not have been able to ride this weekend. They had already qualified for Regionals and didn't need to ride on Saturday. Ride, they did though and without them Liz would not have been able to accumulate enough points to compete at Regionals. Thank you girls.

Liz bought a brand new outfit, something I had not so secretly been hopeful for. Her old outfit, although nice, hid her from the judges. She is a very accomplished rider and needed to show herself and her abilities. I was not disappointed. She recieved two second place ribbons this past weekend and earned enough points to ride in the Regional show Sunday morning.

Regionals Alumni Horsemanship

Sunday was our Regional show and the air was thick with excitement. Liz entered the arena poised and confident. She rode extremely well and performed her very difficult pattern with ease. I knew she had it just based on her rail work. I was so nervous for her I couldn't watch her pattern. I had the girls tell me how she was doing because I just couldn't look. A coach from another team told me she had a perfect pattern. Only when they called her the Reserve Champion did I finally take a breath. She was moving on to Semi-Finals.

The video below shows her Regional Ride.

We just found out yesterday that there will only be 4 riders at Semi-Finals in Alumni Horsemanship, so Liz is automatically qualified for the 2009 National Championship Show, which will be held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at the Miller Colliseium, April 23-26. Looks like we're heading to Nationals! Wish her Luck!

Part of my IUP Western Team