Teens hope to ride to success again
By Kate Daly Assistant Editor

Region - Riding around the ring, Tianli Kilpatrick and Kate Bakkala put Princess and Sleepy through their paces. Princess, a dappled gray Pony of America, and Sleepy, a chestnut gelding, were mismatched in size and color, but it didn't matter to the girls riding them.

They are practicing for their second year of International Equestrian Association (IEA) competitions at Hillside Equestrian Center in Grafton. Last season, their team, coached by Wendy Johnson, was so successful that many girls made it to the regionals and some made it to the national competition in Ohio.

There, the team, made up of mostly public school students, competed so well against teams with girls from private schools, that they won the Team Spirit Award.

The secret to their success comes not only from hard work and excellent training, but also from an exceptional trait of the IEA competitions. The riders never know the horse they will ride, Johnson explained.

"It's a more challenging program because riders are not allowed

to use their own horses," Johnson said. "You have to be versatile as a rider and be able to adapt very quickly because there is very little to no warmup time."

At the same time, this challenge can be an advantage to riders who don't own a horse.

"It allows girls who may never own their own horses to compete at really nice venues on quality horses on equal footing," she said.

The challenge of changing horses for practice and competition doesn't seem to daunt some of Johnson's riders.

"I really like riding diff erent horses all the time instead of riding the same horse," said Shrewsbury resident Kilpatrick, 14. "I love [Princess]. She's stubborn, but I like that. I like stubborn horses."

Kilpatrick will enter eighth grade at Oak Middle School in the fall, and has been riding for three years.

Kate Bakkala, 12, of Northborough, finds riding the new horses more challenging.

"It was really hard to get used to riding the new horses, but I like the competitive aspect," she said. "I looked forward to it."

Heading to eighth grade at Melican Middle School, Kate said riding is different from other sports.

"It's not like soccer, where you just try to win," she said. "You get a bond with horses, and you try to get better."

Jenifer Bakkala, Kate's mother, said she used to be afraid of horses, but her daughter's sport has changed that. Jenifer has even taken a riding lesson. Even more, she's become part of a community.

"My daughter rides two days a week and it's an hour lesson," plus time before and after to take care of the horse and equipment, Jenifer explained. Then there are the shows. "One of the things I did not expect is that there is a real nice group of mothers ... I think the riders benefit from the strong parental support," she said.

Nicole Parker, 17, of Hudson, plans to compete again in the IEA.

"It was a good experience. I expected to be stressed out beyond belief," she said. "This was just relaxed. It was fun. I didn't have to get my horse ready."

Soon to be a senior at Hudson High School, Parker is looking at colleges with equestrian programs so she can continue to ride and compete, she said. What started a summer camp gift from her grandparents 11 years ago has become a way of life.

"You earn a bigger respect for the horses, yourself, the work," she said. "[Riding] sets you up for the real world. It costs money; you have to get a job. Taking care of a horse is a 24-7 job."

She should know. She's owned her own horse, Brego, for three years.

Last year, the team Johnson coached was called Woodgate Equestrian Team because they rode out of Woodgate Farms in West Boylston. This year, the team is called Hillside, after Hillside Equestrian Center. The team will compete in Region 1, as it did last year, but, Johnson said, the IEA is growing so rapidly that the region will be divided for the upcoming season.

Johnson attributes the success of her students to their versatility in riding diff erent horses at lessons.

"We do a lot of horse rotation," she said. "We watch the horses, and try to determine by watching how to ride that horse."

During the lesson, she offered small corrections to posture, direction and rein grip.

"They can' judge you by how you look. Almost all the weight is on how you get the horse to perform," Johnson said. "It's my opinion that this is the most multi-tasking sport ever."