Riders gain experience at show

Young competitors at annual event eye college, Olympic glory

FAYETTEVILLE — When working with a horse as a teammate, communication during a competition requires more than words, said Addison Guess, a 13-year-old rider from Bentonville.

It involves noticing and understanding the other’s movements — a rider’s subtle nudge, squeeze or pat — and hiding these movements from a judge who might dock them points, Guess said.

“It’s like whispering to them with your body,” she said. “It’s fun because you form a relationship and a bond, so then you can really work well together.”

Guess put her equestrian skills to the test this weekend at the Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association’s 11th annual Summer Classic Horse Show, the association’s

biggest show of the season, said Jen Sweeney, vice president. Each season, which runs April through November, involves seven shows that allow riders to accumulate points for end-of-the-year awards in January.

Guess placed second out of 13 riders Friday in the Summer Classic 2’6” Hunter Derby competition, which awards points for technical skills and artistic flair. The competition featured a course with fences and hedges that act as objects horses might jump over while fox hunting — an activity that inspired the sport.

People often mistake show jumping for the Western-style sport characterized by cowboy hats and boots, Sweeney said. Show jumping originated in Europe, modeled after field hunters who rode horseback, according to the United States Equestrian Federation.

Competitions at the Summer Classic Horse Show vary to focus on the rider’s or horse’s movements and how they work together to create seamless transitions, Sweeney said.

“There’s a lot more finesse involved in riding than people realize,” Sweeney said. “We’re trained to get out there and make it look pretty and easy.”

Riders at the summer show usually range between ages 5 and 50, Sweeney said. Jennifer Barlow, president of the association, thinks the local shows give young riders foundational experience, she said.

“When they start younger and then they continue throughout high school, it will develop them to go onto college and ride. And some of the girls out here even have aspirations to be on an Olympic riding team,” Barlow said.

Lilli Barlow, Jennifer Barlow’s 12-year-old daughter, began riding as a hobby at age 5 and began lessons at age 8. This year marks her fourth year competing at the Summer Classic, Lilli said.

Lilli hopes to buy her own horse and continue competing in higher level, A-rated shows, she said. She’s already picked out the college equestrian team she hopes to join at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

“They have an amazing team there and just an amazing facility, and I would love to go on and ride in the Olympics one day,” Lilli said.

Madison Gray, an 18-yearold rider with the Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association, will start college at the University of Louisville this fall to pursue a degree in equine business, she said. The association awarded her a scholarship toward tuition

in part because of her future goals in the field.

Gray began riding at age 7 but cannot pinpoint what sparked her initial interest, she said.

“I would always kind of pick [horses] out of the toys I had,” she said. “I got more and more interested.”

Gray hopes to walk on and join an equestrian team at the university, and she thinks the Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association helped her prepare for this next step, she said.

The association’s shows mostly attract riders from the Northwest Arkansas area, but this year’s summer show involved more than 100 riders from local barns as well as riders from Fort Smith, Conway and Tulsa, Okla., Sweeney said.

The show will continue at 8 a.m. today until all competitions end in the afternoon or evening, at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Sciences Arena. Admission is free, and food vendors will be available.

“When they start younger and then they continue throughout high school, it will develop them to go onto college and ride. And some of the girls out here even have aspirations to be on an Olympic riding team.”

— Jennifer Barlow, president, Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Lilli Barlow, 12, of Bentonville gives her horse, Noah, a kiss Saturday as Olivia Youngblood, a graduate student at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, braids Noah’s tail during the 11th annual Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association Summer Classic at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Arena in Fayetteville.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Abery Gabriele, 11, of Bella Vista rides atop Ollivander The Bay on Saturday as they compete in the Cross Rail Challenge.