gingin said:Annelise is 15 and rides English and jumps.
She sounds like a real winner. I do hope she continues. I put my daughter on a horse when she was very young (like 3 or 4 ) and she began showing when she was about second or third grade. She showed English equitation and when she was 16 she won the Nationals in PA and was sent to Madison Sq. Garden for the finals. We had a great horse and during the ride off she had to switch horses, the girl who had our horse won and my daughter came in second. That is what you call a heart breaker but part of the business of equitation, since you do not show the horse, you show your ability to ride any horse. It is a great learning experience and she went on showing until she was too old for equitation and we sold the equitation horse and got a gaited horse, which I was against but anyhow, that horse burned to death in a fire. New horse, new tack and just moved to that barn , no insurance yet, place burned down and only two horses survived. Ours was not one of them. When she quit showing she was one of the top 21 Equitation Riders in the USA. Her showing was over when she found Standardbred horses were more fun driving and training than showing. She stayed with the race horses until she got a job with the State of NJ and she was hired as the Equine Specialist of the State. Still is, has been for twenty some years and will retire in another 5 years. She has never lost her love of horses, FFA, 4H and working with kids and horses. We were blessed with a great life thanks to the horses and I always recommend it to anyone who has the space and money to keep one of those animals, or even lease one if the interested is there. Sorry for the long post, but I am as crazy about horses as I am about plants.
