outdoors
PHOTO BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN
Sophia Statzer shares
Red Vines with her
pony after a good ride
JUMP!
Horses, kids, water and ditches —
what could go wrong? BY C AMILLA MORTENSEN
I
couldn’t help but wonder if this was
a good idea: Jumping 1,200 pounds
of horse at a gallop over logs, walls,
ditches and various and sundry large
solid objects seemed a bit suicidal. “Just
keep your eyes up and go!” trainer Karen
O’Neal told me perkily as I got ready for my
round. “Don’t look down. You’ll be fi ne.”
Turns out if you get a little adrenaline
into my horse Flash and me, we’ll jump
just about anything. Even the ditch. We
came in fourth place. Flash sailed over the
ditch like it wasn’t there while I clutched
his mane and stared resolutely at the fi nish
line. The rule in riding is: If you look at the
ground, you’ll wind up there.
I was pretty proud of myself for my
bravery until I chatted with 11-year-old
Sophia Statzer. She totally outdid me on
courage: “I love ditches!” she says. Her
pony-sized Arabian named Allegiance
“does a fl ying leap and it’s really fun!”
I was introduced to the sport of eventing
(also called horse trials) about three years
ago. I tried not to let it freak me out too
much that the galloping cross-country
portion of it requires that you wear not
only a helmet and a medical armband, but
also body armor.
Eventing has its origins in the military.
It was a way for the cavalry to ensure its
troops stayed fi t and ready for battle. Only
offi cers on active duty were allowed to
compete in its 1912 Olympic debut. These
days, three-day eventing and the other
equestrian sports are the only Olympic
events in which men and women compete
against each other on equal footing.
The U.S. Pony Club is one way that
kids begin competing in eventing. Sophia
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is a Pony Clubber and goes to regular
meetings, where she learns not only how
to ride but how to be safe and care for her
pony. Her mom, Liza Statzer, is the joint
district commissioner for Eugene’s Jumps
and Jodhpurs Pony Club, and Sophia's
older sisters are long-time Pony Clubbers.
You can participate in Pony Club from the
moment you can get on a horse — Sophia
was fi ve when she started — until you
turn 25.
Liza Statzer says that she gets a little
tense sometimes, as she watches Sophia
struggle to get Allegiance around a diffi cult
course, the pony balking and even bucking.
“I’m always like ‘Huulppp!’” she says,
giving a demonstrative gasp, “and the kids
are like ‘Mom! Stop!’”
But she says that watching her kids ride
means she gets to see “that moment where
they are like ‘Woo! I did this!’”
O’Neal, who lives in Sisters but travels
to Eugene each week to teach lessons in
the sport and once a month to coach the
Pony Clubbers, has Olympic dreams. She
was one of the nation’s top 50 riders last
year, and she hopes to qualify for the 2012
Olympic games. Her mare True Avenue, an
ex-racehorse she bought out of a backyard
in Newberg, was second in the nation in
2009 at what’s called the Prelim level and
was a top 10 mare overall. “She’s just
amazing,” O’Neal says.
O’Neal explains that in eventing, “You
have to really ride and be versatile. You
have to take an extremely fi t animal and
make it look like a relaxed being.”
The fi rst day of a three-day event is
dressage. Think of this as horse ballet or
fi gure skating. Judging is based on the way
the horse and rider execute a pattern of
movements with elegance and precision.
The second day is cross-country,
Sophia’s favorite part: “I like going through
water and getting to gallop.” Horse and
rider jump a long outdoor course of solid
obstacles from plain old logs to jumps
designed to look like anything from a small
airplane to a chicken coop.
Cross-country developed a reputation
for danger after 12 riders died in falls in
2008. The main danger is in what’s called
a rotational fall: The horse, going at a
high rate of speed, hits a jump with its
chest or front legs and fl ips over the jump,
sometimes landing on the rider.
Since 2008, the United States Eventing
Association has developed a new set of
safety regulations as well as some fences
that are designed to give way if a horse
hits them.
On the third day the horse-and-rider
pair competes in stadium jumping where
they are asked to show their dexterity
and stamina jumping a course of brightly
colored fences, losing points if a tired horse
knocks down rails or refuses a jump.
At higher levels, there are veterinary
inspections during the course of the event
to ensure the horse is in good enough shape
to continue.
“Both horse and rider have to be really
fi t,” O’Neal says.
Tell me about it. After O’Neal was done
with Flash and me, we were both dripping
sweat but ready to go to the next horse
trials. Eyes up; heels down. Keep the horse
between you and the ground …
ew
From June 25-27 there will be a three-day event in
Philomath featuring riders from pint-sized Pony Club-
bers to Olympians. For more info go to www.inavale-
farm.com and for more info on Pony Club go to www.
ponyclub.org useventing.com will bring you up to
speed on the eventing world.
EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 13, 2010 13