Partnership Flourishes With Dose of Horse Sense : Equestrienne: Calabasas rider Lauren Kay, with a little help from her friend, Melvin, places second in prestigious event.

Lauren and Melvin have been partners for several years now, and during those years they’ve formed a special and profitable relationship.

The key to their partnership is Melvin’s easygoing nature. Lauren says that she can demand more from him that way.

Melvin is a horse.

Together, Lauren Kay, 17, and Melvin placed second out of 100 entrants in the ASPCA-McClay National Finals, a prestigious equitation event for junior riders that tested the extent of their partnerships.

“It’s like I walk in the ring and I have total concentration on what I have to do,” Kay said. “The only thing I think about is my horse and myself and the course I have to ride, so if there’s an audience, I don’t think about that. I know exactly where my horses weaknesses and strengths are, and where I have to push him a little more to get what I want and where I can ease off and he can do it himself. It’s like me and the horse alone, and everything flows.”

The finals were held in early November at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, and Kay’s accomplishment is even more impressive when one considers that only three other Californians have ever placed as high in this predominantly East Coast event.

“They (East Coast) have more numbers than we do in terms of people who ride and go to this event and it’s held on the East Coast, so it’s more expensive and harder for a West Coast (rider) to go back there,” Kay said. “The East Coast riders are basically more prestigious than the West Coast, but we’re coming up and bringing a name for the West Coast.”

Kay, a senior at Calabasas High, qualified as one of 15 entrants from California for September’s regional finals, which are held throughout the country.

The equitation is an equestrian event that consists of a number of jumps that test both the rider’s ability and appearance. Before the competition, each rider will walk the course and select an option as to how many steps, or strides, their horse will take between jumps. This allows the rider to get a feel for the course and decide, with the horses weaknesses and strengths in mind, which option they will take.

“In the morning, at 5:30, they start with a warm-up class, which is judged but it doesn’t count toward the event,” Kay said. “It’s just so you and your horse can get acclimated to the ring. Then, about 8:30, they start the first round, which is elimination. So all 100 people get to do the course, and then after that they work about 25 people on the flat, which means no jumps. You just do flat exercises, and then from that 25 they pick 17 people to return in the afternoon for the final.”

The elimination round is a demanding jumping course in a small ring with a large number of stride options and tight turns designed to test both the rider’s and the horse’s skills. After the flat round, a shorter, more difficult jumping course is set for the final. A horse has three recognized speeds; walk, trot, and canter, with the canter the fastest and the walk the slowest. In the final round the speeds are varied to increase the difficulty.

“Normally you canter all the fences, but as a test to show how balanced your horse is, you do a trot jump,” Kay said.

A counter-canter also was added to the final round.

“Counter-canter means you’re cantering on the horse’s outside leg,” Kay said. “A horse usually canters on the inside leg, (meaning) whichever leg is on the inside leads, but a counter-canter means the outside leg leads, and it’s harder for the horse to balance that way.”

Kay initially was tied for first with Ray Texel of New Jersey after the final elimination round, which necessitated a tiebreaker. The two riders switched horses and rode the course again, which allowed Texel to edge out Kay.

“He was a little bit more experienced,” Kay said.

Considering the age at which Kay started riding, that statement is surprising.

“When I was little my mom always had horses,” Kay said. “I first rode when I was five and I just loved horses and I loved doing it. When I was nine I got my first horse, and I’ve been seriously competing since I was about 11.”

But with the time and effort involved in competing, it’s easy to wonder what the appeal is.

“I don’t know what the appeal is,” Kay said. “I love competition. I mean I thrive on winning, and it’s a neat relationship between me and my horse. We have a special relationship and understanding. I know what kind of mood he’s in when I ride him that day and how to react to his moods so I don’t get him upset.

“If you don’t get along with your horse, or if your horse has a bad attitude, it takes away a lot,” Kay said. “But when you guys get along perfectly, it’s like everything works out.”