In October, Sarah Yearick, ‘27, and Logan Faison, ‘27, competed in the All American Quarter Horse Congress at the Ohio Expo Center. Both aimed to gain experience showing their own horses in this prestigious event.
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Sarah Yearick showed her horse Shotgun for the first time, as well as Grier Horse, Hollywood. She placed 4th in the Rookie with a score of 211.5. She was 13th in the Novice Horse with a score of 207, and she placed 2nd in the Green Reiner with a score of 215.5.
To prepare for Congress, Yearick practiced with both Hollywood and Shotgun over the summer. Grier students compete in a lot of IEA shows, but Congress was a very different experience for Yearick. She explained that “when you go to an IEA show, you ride a random horse.”
Congress is different due to the extensive preparations on your own horse.
Yearick learned a lot from this one show. “Watching horse trainers and watching other people ride,” Yearick said, “you learn so many little things when you’re at a horse show like that.”
Horse shows demonstrate the commitment riders have for their sport. On the day that Yearick showed in the Novice Horse, she was up far before the sun in order to prepare. “I had gotten up at 1:45 that morning to ride my horse to get [him] ready,” she explained.
She showed Hollywood, at 5am, but she didn’t end up showing Shotgun until 11:45pm that night. “I was up for 20 hours before I got to show my second horse,” Yearick said. “That was definitely something I will remember.”
Yearick took away a lot of new knowledge from this show. “Take every opportunity you can to learn from others–listening to everything your coaches have to say, putting in the extra time, and just doing everything you can to improve,” Yearick said.
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Logan Faison showed her own horse, Oz, placing top ten in AQHA Youth Level 1, and 6th in NSBA Youth level 1. She was a Youth 14-18 Finalist, and a NRHA Rookie level 2 Finalist.
Faison explained what made Congress different and a good challenge for her. “There’s a lot more people in your class,” Faison said, “and the degree of difficulty is high[er] because these people have had their horses for a long time.”
After her time at Congress, Faison learned to trust herself more and trust that she has the ability to ride at a higher quality. “Trust yourself. Don’t ever compare yourself to anybody, especially kids that are your age,” Faisons said. “That hurts you a lot more than you think.”
Both Yearick and Faison proved how talented and determined they are at Congress, representing the Grier Equestrian Team beautifully.
