In Rockbridge there are many residents with an assortment of talents. One of these many skills includes riding and showing horses in various competitions all over the East Coast. Two students at RCHS, sophomore Sydney Remington and junior McKenzie Burch take part in these competitions and practice locally. 

Junior McKenzie Burch spoke about where and how often she rides horses.

“I ride at Otteridge Farm in Bedford, VA. I ride 3-4 times a week, one being a lesson with my coach where we work on things for upcoming shows,” said Burch. 

During competition some people choose to ride their own horses, however they may also decide to compete with a different steed, representing a horse from an allotted horse farm.

“I own my own horse as well as ride lots of other people’s horses. I show normally once or twice a month because this sport is very expensive,” said Burch.

Owning horses takes time and effort and the responsibility that comes with showing horses is great. 

“Taking care of horses and riding horses is a major responsibility,” said Burch. “You have to be able to understand your horse in order to have the best ride you can.”

As Burch says, horses have personalities just like humans. To learn a horse’s personality, you have to spend time with them outside of practicing and showing.

“Learning to understand the horse isn’t only when riding. By taking care of the horses (grooming, feeding, turning out, etc) you learn how they respond to questions,” said Burch. “You want to set your horse up for success so you must know everything about them. No different from a coach and a player.”

Remington rides horses in Natural Bridge, VA and Staunton, VA. Along with Burch, Remington owns her own horses, but also rides others.

“I mostly show another horse because my horse is very inexperienced and she’s still learning,” said Remington. “I’ll probably show her more this year.”

In Natural Bridge and Staunton, Remington prepares and practices with horses quite often.

“I ride my horse everyday to keep her fit and to practice for myself, and I ride other horses a couple times a week,” said Remington. “I would say it’s a pretty big responsibility because it’s important to keep the horses healthy and to make sure they have everything they need.”

Remington shows her horses a few weekends a month in the summer and only a handful of times in the winter. 

As Burch and Remington continue to ride horses, they are constantly learning and improving. They look forward to seeing what the future holds for their horse riding careers.