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California Riding Magazine • February, 2012 Horsemastership by Marnye Langer, LAHJA president |
The 2011 Los Angeles Hunter Jumper Assn. Horsemastership Program proved to be very competitive. After three phases of competition including Hands-On, Written and Riding, each competitor's score was based 40% on the Written phase, 40% on the Hand-On Phase and 20% on the Riding phase. The Hands-On portion challenged the participants' knowledge of stable management and horse care, while the Written portion further evaluated their expertise in horsemanship as well as the anatomy of a horse and additional horse related information. Finally, participants presented their riding skills by submitting a recent video of themselves riding in a horse show. Competition was conducted during the Gold Coast 7 show in October, but contenders had to wait until the LAHJA Awards Banquet Dec. 11 to learn the results. After calculating the total scores from the three categories, Emma Blackwood (Vickie Hanson, trainer) triumphed with an overall score of 251.5. This was her sixth year participating in the program, having won third overall last year, and she was thrilled to win. Following close behind her were Leah Gunn (Elvenstar, trainer) with a score of 246.2 and Claire Sears (Kim Tasker, trainer) with a score of 244.9. Seventeen year-old Emma has been riding for 13 years. She proved to be a contender in all three phases, placing second with a score of 98 in the Hands On portion, fourth in the Written phase, and a very close second in Riding. It was her strong performance throughout the three phases that resulted in her win. She explained her strategy for success in the Hands On and Written phases: "I was just trying not to stress out and remember that I know most of this stuff just from day-to-day use." Emma's dedication to the program paid off in the form of a $2,500 scholarship, and thanks to all of her years in the program, she will have a total of $3,500 to help pay for college. She is currently a senior at Malibu High School and looks forward to furthering her education at either Stanford, USC or Southern Methodist University. Emma plans to major in business while continuing to ride through her college years and beyond. She had a few words of advice for future participants. "Don't give up. It was discouraging not to win the first five years and I won't say it's easy, but when you do well it's extremely rewarding. It's a good way to meet other horse girls and learn some things you might not know otherwise." Overall, she credits her success to her years of hard work and loves that the Horsemastership Program involves more aspects of horsemanship than riding. Second place winner Leah Gunn earned a perfect score of 100 on the Hands-On and a score of 91 on the Written portion, topping both phases. Leah prepared for the competition with her trainers at Elvenstar and by going to Sandrine Seifert's summer clinic. She expressed, "I would recommend Sandrine's clinic to everyone. She's an invaluable resource. She inspires me to be better. She's honest, straightforward, and just great." This was Leah's third year in the competition. She said, "I loved being able to become a horsewoman, not just a rider." Leah, currently a senior at Oak Park High, will be putting her $1,500 scholarship to good use as she hopes to attend Stanford University to study law or psychology. Leah has high aspirations and wishes to start a therapeutic riding program in the future. Giving a speech was very enjoyable for her, and she was honored to stand up in front of some of the most respected people in the equestrian community. She advised future competitors to remember that riding is truly about the bond between horse and rider. Her acceptance speech can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTiXpfx_j7Q. Fifteen-year-old Claire Sears placed third overall with a combined score of 244.9, a mere two points behind Leah. She scored 96 and took third place in the Hands-On phase and was half of a point behind Leah in the Written phase with a score of 90.5 to place second in that phase. Last year she placed second overall, winning a total of $2,500 in scholarships thus far. To prepare for the tests, Claire reviewed her notes from the summer workshop and test review. She concluded, "The summer workshop was definitely the most beneficial." The Horsemastership Program highlights the importance of being a true horseman as well as an excellent rider. Each year the program grants a total of $5,000 scholarships to the top three overall participants: $2,500 to the winner, $1,500 to second place, and $1,000 to third place. Additionally, the overall winner and the winner of each category of the competition receive trophies.
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