Team NL- Canadian Equestrian Championship (Pics!)

[kylie]

That's awesome , congrats and good luck !

[Chrissy]

From the Saskatchewan Horse Federation:

- Each Province may send a Team (up to 12 riders):
4 Dressage / 4 Jumpers / 4 Reiners

- Teams of 4 must consist of 2 Juniors (17 & under) & 2 Seniors (18 & over) as of January 1st. Teams of 2 must consist of 1 Junior & 1 Senior. Teams of 3 must consist of at least 1 Junior and 1 Senior.

(Source)

Congratulations again, Maria! Can't wait to hear all about it.

[maria]

I'm home now (sadly), flew back last night/this morning. I had a fantastic time competing at Bromont, I can't wait for next year!!!!

Unfortunately I did not place in the ribbons, I'm sorry guys.
However I could see an improvement in my tests every day, so in the end that's all you can really ask for. I was happy with myself, I mean, I was at a bit of a disadvantage in some cases, but everyone was really nice. When they heard I didn't have a coach I had about 4 or 5 offer to teach me, and I also found a couple working student positions with coaches/trainers there.

Going to this competition made me a bunch of new friends, I have places to stay now, and horses to ride and even show if I want to! It was definitely worth all the tears, sweat, and hard work.

After competiting at this level, I'm thinking about the possibility of showing around the Atlantic's, so if anyone is interested in the possibility of a team, please message me!

[Jess]

I'd really love to partake in this if I had the horse for it. I think it's fantastic that we have opportunities like this here now. I'm all for furthering the show scene/general level of riding and competition around here, this is definitely a great way to do it. Congrats Maria.

[star]

Welcome back and congrats! I'm so pleased that you enjoyed yourself and had such a positive experience. It must have been so overwhelming! It's refreshing to know that the equine community opened up it's arm to welcome you. You have put NL on the map!

Also a big cudos to you for pursuing your dream and finding ways to make it come true. So many sit back and grumble instead of channeling their energies in a positive direction. You should be very proud of yourself!

[maria]

Jess- There were dressage, jumping, and reining horses rented out to the competitors. All of them were very well trained, and very nice. Everyone I talked to really enjoyed their rented horse. I only got to watch the reining one day as it was held at a different facility, but I do remember the pattern that they had to do. If you would like more information on it, PM me.

And Tammy, thank you so very much for that comment. You don't know how nice it is to have that kind of support behind you, not only up there, but to know that people at home are cheering you on as well is absolutely priceless.

[Sarah]

Can someone who isn't currently in NL go and compete for NL? Next year I might be interested in doing the jumping (on a rented horse)...

[charismatic]

I believe the Reining patterns were 5 and 8. I may have that mistaken. A lot of the rules for qualification are posted on the NSEF website, obviously a bit different for NFLD..

Saw plenty of Pictures today and they were STUNNING.. What a great experience. The place looked absolutely Amazing.

[krystina]

Sarah, I can't see why not. I think it's really up to the NEA to decide and since you've lived here, ridden here, shown here, it wouldn't make sense if you couldn't ride FROM here.

Do it!!

[Becca]

Wouldn't you have to qualify here though? Ie if you did the qualifiers in AB it would be for the AB team kinda thing? I am all for it and get the ball better rolling for next year!

[htrimm08]

I think that's correct, becca.. You would have to come to NL for qualifiers.
Maria were there any people there that were like "holy shit, NL has a competitive horse community??"

[maria]

Becca, you're probably right. In the next NEA meeting I'm going to ask about next year. We really have to get started on it now. Since my mom was there, and got thrown into the position of Chef d'Equipe, she has volunteered to help organize it next year. However qulaifiers would be held here in NL.

And Heather...Umm yeah, everyone haha. But it didn't look very big considering it was only me and my mother who showed up for the competition. Everyone was really surprised, but pleased, that NL had actually sent a rep, but they were astonished by the lack of coach. Luckily when other teams found that out they offered to help, so I got lots of little lessons with other coaches. Heather, I'll pm you more about it.

[Jess]

This is why I'm so interested in doing my Competition Coach through EC rather than IOB. I've had a couple people say to me that there's no need for it when we only have 3 or 4 shows a year, but all I can say is that I really think it would foster the competitive community here and we can partake in more things like this. Sure, the majority of riders here are recreational riders, but who's to say we wouldn't have a bigger show scene/more opportunities like this if there was someone offering coaching primarily focusing on those interested in riding competitively.