CLUB/MEMBER SPOTLIGHT!
MPA Team meets Wellington Florida
By Anna ten Bensel Posted June 2010
Every year in Wellington Florida there is a horse show that takes place, but not just any show. It's known to be the world's largest horse show, consisting of mainly Hunter/ Jumper riders and Dressage riders. Over 5,000 exhibitors come to this event including George Morris, Beezie Madden and many other top equestrians. This 12 week adventure in West Palm Beach Florida starts January 13 - April 4, 2010 and has well over 1,500 classes. One of your amazing riders on the Mounds Park Academy equestrian team, Kate Roach, competes in this show every year.
This year a few members of our team went to Florida for spring break and wanted to get together to take about our horses, our goals and see the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Kate Roach, Rachael Kozen and myself watched many horse and riders do very well but also have their falls. One evening Kate, Rachael and I decided we were going to watch the Grand Prix Finale Jumpers. This was to be that last week the Grand Prix horses and riders were competing. We saw all the riders do course walks and watched them as they would go back and forth and back and forth. A man and the ring master sang the National anthem and since it was outdoors there wasn't a flag hanging from the ceiling. In order to make up for the lack of flag, they had someone sky dive down with the American flag as the National Anthem was sung. Then the Grand Prix teams came out and rode a seventeen fence course with fences anywhere from 4 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 3 inches.
Kate, Rachael and I talked about why we love MHSEA because it gives young riders an opportunity to place in an environment that is small but competitive and competing against youth your own age. Our club talked about our individual goals as members of the MHSEA community and what we were looking forward to this year. One thing we are all looking forward to are the team challenges, photography and drawing contests.
Going to Wellington to watch the world's top riders with some of the greatest people to watch with me just made it so much better. Even though we aren't that good yet, we continue to train, work hard, compete and goof off and with the support and opportunities from the MHSEA community, we will continue to grow not only as riders but as people in society.
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