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Though eighth grader Anna is only 14 years old, she is already a seasoned equestrian veteran. Her
mother, Val, remembers when Anna was only four years old: “She was on
her steed…flying across the plains in a mad gallop.” In reality, her
“steed” was a pony, harnessed to a children’s ride along with the
other ponies and riders. Since that first encounter, however, horses
have been Anna’s passion. During her childhood her bedroom décor was
everything horses, bandanas and saddles.
Anna has been riding with Finisimo, the all Paso Fino youth equestrian
drill team, since its inception, and has been a team captain for three
show seasons. The responsibilities of the team captain include
setting a good example in horsemanship, equitation, teamwork and
sportsmanship and of course, blowing the whistle to signal the team
for maneuvers and emergency stops.
 Anna
rode with Finisimo during the team’s first summer, when the troupe
traveled nearly 1,000 miles to Lexington, Kentucky to perform Paso
Fino breed exhibitions at Breyer Fest and to compete in the annual
drill competition. Anna led the youth team as team captain when
Finisimo competed at the 2006 National United States Eques-trian Drill
Champion-ship (USEDC) and won the national title with first place in
the Gaited Division.
Anna has been riding with Finisimo coach, Lisa Lewis, for six years
and has been a member of the USPC, PFHA, AAHA and 4-H. She has shown
in local Paso and Arab schooling shows and attended dressage lessons
and riding camp when financial “weather” has permitted. Late in the
summer of 2007, while most of Finisimo took a break, Anna and a few
close peers refused to rest and independently choreographed their very
own routine for a quadrille, a four horse and rider team. This team
now practices weekly in addition to the weekly Finisimo practices.
They plan to compete in the Quadrille Division at this year’s USEDC,
Super Ride VI.
Anna’s sister, Meg, has followed in her sister’s hoof prints not only
by riding a Paso Fino but also in serving as team captain for Finisimo.
Meg has social skills and diplomacy, leadership and empathy for others
that seem extraordinarily advanced for her age of 11. Anna and Meg’s
mother, Val, is the official Finisimo historian, assembling fabulous
scrapbooks and memorabilia for |
sharing with the
team and the public. Val is also Finisimo’s artist, having helped to
design the logo for the team.
Anna’s
interests are creative and varied, from digital photography to
creative writing. She competes regularly in creative writing and
poetry contests. One poem that Anna wrote seems at first to be a love
letter, but with a clever twist, turns out to be written to her Paso
Fino horse, Santana. Anna is a straight “A” student. Her other
academic interests include being the school yearbook editor, and being
actively involved in Prep Bowl and the school newspaper. Anna reports
that she is interested in one day being a “trainer, vet, novelist,
and/or photographer.” She laughs, “all things that horses can easily
be incorporated into!”
One “stable” thing in Anna’s life has been horses. Year after year,
memorizing multiple drills and leading her peers has “kept her sane”
as her mother says about Anna. Anna has ridden many horses on the
drill team in the past as her skills have advanced. Her crowned
equestrian accomplishment was training her own Paso Fino, Santana, a
buckskin Paso Fino gelding that looks a lot like Spirit, the star
character in the popular animated film.
Anna contributes a lot of her training techniques to the Parelli
methods after she had the opportunity to attend a Parelli clinic. She
states, “I have also learned a lot from my Dad that Parelli couldn’t
teach me.” Anna’s father, Joe, was manager of the stable where they
kept their horses in his “spare” time. He is an excellent horseman
and an experienced riding instructor. “My dad knows Santana so well
that he can tell me which methods are more likely to work for me and
Santana. Anna has also trained Santana to do tricks. “He gives great
kisses and comes when he’s called,” says Anna. Now Anna has Santana
working at advanced lateral work; half pass, side pass, turning on the
forehand and turning on the haunches.
The time and
consistency she has invested in riding horses, in training Santana and
in practicing with Finisimo have paid off. “She has put in the time.”
says her mom. |
