Anyone who has never ridden a horse might not know that each animal very much has — for better of for worse — its own distinct personality.
However, those who thoroughly enjoy horseback riding are quite keenly familiar with how vastly different one animal can be from another.
“When I first got on, I literally felt like he was going to take off with me,” said Deshann Valentine during an interview at the Round Up's office.
The Grade 11 student at Sundre High School was recounting her recent experience at the Canadian Pony Club National Dressage Championships that were held this summer at Birds Hill Provincial Park north of Winnipeg when she was partnered with an eight-year-old Hanoverian horse by the name of Joe. The Manitoba Pony Club Region hosted the event.
But despite the word “pony” in the event and organization's name, only horses are actually featured, she said.
“We don't take our horses — the region host brings the horses.”
Part of the challenge behind the competition has to do with adapting to handling a horse that participants have never ridden before, she said.
“This horse had a lot of energy,” she said about her steed, admitting she was initially almost worried about getting bucked off.
“He was the hardest horse there to ride.”
But throughout the course of the weekend, the pair continued to improve and even to a point synchronized.
“We found a connection,” said Valentine, who has been a member of the Chinook's Edge Pony Club for nine years.
“I learned to control his energy and keep him focused. Everyone said I rode him really well.”
She attributes that success to her previous and ongoing experience riding her own horses — Snap Shot II, a Canadian sport horse; Blake, a Trakehner; and TS Burbon With Frost, a quarter horse — that also have a strong will of their own.
Pony dressage competitions are tests performed on horseback whereby judges assign a score to a competitor's combination of movements, including the animal's gaits — which are essentially a horse's different strides — of walking, trotting, loping, galloping and backing up.
After being assigned an animal, the riders are granted a brief window of opportunity to get accustomed to the new mount, after which they also receive a lesson with one of the region's coaches, she said.
“It was a good experience to ride a horse you've never ridden before, then compete on it.”
Her first test was “a little bit shaky” but Valentine seemed pleased with her performance during the second test, when she placed fourth out of nine and scored a 62 per cent — anything above 60 per cent is considered good. Competitors had a chance to memorize the patterns they would be tested on for the first tests, but the final exam required the riders to get prepared for a routine mere minutes before being expected to perform it in the ring, she said.
“There were a lot of movements I wasn't expecting.”
To complicate matters more, “my horse was really spooked out as there was sprinklers going off in a polo field nearby.”
Although Valentine did not take any titles home, the valuable experience added to her repertoire of knowledge and she wants to continue building up her horseback riding abilities. Her sight is now set on competing next year in the Canadian Pony National Show Jumping event, for which the final date and location have yet to be determined, she said.
