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Saturday, August 11, 2007

CN North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships
Presented by Gotham North and UlcerGard

The Highs and Lows and Lessons Learned as a Young Rider
By Bonnie Efird

After winning the FEI Junior division at the Festival of Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey, I was floating on “cloud nine. It was not until two weeks before the NAJYRC that I began to feel the pressure of living up to my new “title” as the U.S. FEI Junior Champion.

When we arrived at the Virginia Horse Park, my mare, “Maggie” was in heat and unsettled. The commotion of a new place didn’t help. Seeing Maggie spinning in her stall made my stomach spin just the same—would she act like a total nutcase in the show ring and cause the reigning junior champion to fail in fulfilling expectations? Would I be able to handle her suddenly hot attitude?

On Thursday, Maggie pulled through and was quite the lady in my Junior Team test. The trot work started a little rough, but I was able to pull through the test after getting higher scores on my canter work. We ended with a score of 67.75 percent.

I was very proud, even though I felt it wasn’t my strongest ride of the season. But best of all, my team (the Region 1 Junior Dressage Team) won the Bronze Medal because each of us put in great, solid rides. (Not to mention our ringside cheering, which was one of my favorite parts of the whole competition!) My fellow Region 1 teammates were Junior Riders Elizabeth Kelemen, Nicole DelGiorno, and Jillian Kemenosh, and Young Riders Ryan Eskridge, Ana DiGironimo, Danielle Vallandingham, and Sarah Cunningham. They made the competition so much fun, and I am so thankful for the bonding time we shared together.

When my dad pulled Maggie out of her stall on Friday to take her on a walk, Ryan noticed that she was sore from being a “goofball” in her stall (again due to her hormonal state.) I became worried that Maggie’s soreness would cost me my ride on Saturday, or cause me to have a sub-par ride. After a few sessions with Sal, the massage “miracle worker,” and a few sessions of the Electro magnetic massage blanket, Maggie seemed fine and my worries drifted away as I mentally prepared for the Junior Individual Test.