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Horse Show
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By Lincoln Rogers
Sidelines: What do you like so much about grand prix competition? ST: I've always wanted to do it. It's always been a goal. I have a huge network of friends cheering for me, especially on my home turf, and my trainer is rather loud; so it's so much fun for me to be going around the ring when I'm almost clear or doing well and hearing the screaming and comments. I'm always paying attention to that more than the course in general! I just think it's great, and I love it. I also like the fact you can always improve and you can always be better in this sport. Sidelines: You attribute a lot of your success to your horse. How do you describe that partnership? ST: I guess if you want to put it on a personal level, we're almost best friends. We're a lot alike. It's funny to see when I'm riding around in a bad mood or something has happened that day, my trainer will say, your horse isn't going well. My trainer will tell me to smile, and then I smile and the next minute we're both going around great and things are just so much better. Our moods almost change together. I swear there's some bond of some sort. I think you almost have to have a bond. If they're going to trust you to ride them to the right distance at that big of a jump and you're going to trust them to leap over and do it for you, then you've got to have some form of unspoken bond. I can't make sense of it any other way. It doesn't make sense that my horse jumps that big or we should be gutsy enough to do it. Sidelines: You picked up your first grand prix victory recently. How did that feel? ST: It was so fun. My trainer started screaming. My mom was stumbling into the arena somewhere because she was watching from the corner. It was really fun. My dad, being my biggest fan, was just ecstatic. There's something to being able to say you've won one of those prix. Sidelines: How important is the support of your family to your riding? ST: It's great. My mom is Miss Social Bee and she does everything there is to help with all the horse shows. My dad on the other hand, has been to every single grand prix I've had, except for maybe one, and he's walked the course with me and tells me his pointers. He'll always set jumps for me and always be there. It's just fun. He always puts a smile on my face no matter how good or bad I jump. I can't imagine doing it any other way. I can't imagine any parents understanding the sport unless they do it. My dad will be the first to say he never liked it until he got on a horse. Sidelines: You have Olympic and World Cup goals. You believe you have a shot at those? ST: Yeah. First of all, it's really about the horse and rider combination. There are three factors that go into it. Luck. Horse. Rider. As a rider I have no fear in regards to height, challenge, anything... I thrive off of it. For the horse, it's all going to be about finding the one. I need to find another Missy (barn name of current horse, Special Verdict) with a little more jump. I've seen first-hand how a horse and rider can progress and have fun and win, so I can't see why it shouldn't be a possibility. I love the anticipation of doing the Olympics one day and I keep working toward that. I've tried other sports and they didn't go well, so I figure I'm made to do this. | ||
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