Area’s Top Youth Riders Not Horsing Around
When Jen Griffin heard about the Interscholastic Equestrian League, she was riding high.
“My trainer [Leslie Thompson] took other riders to competitions and she asked me if I was interested in going,” said Griffin, 18, a senior at Trabuco Hills High. “I didn’t even know they had a league for schools to compete until I found out about this. I was excited about it. It was like, wow.”
The Interscholastic Equestrian League encompasses 180 riders from about 65 county schools, and some schools as far as Glendora.
The league was formed five years ago by its current president, Diana Ramsey, after county competitors got tired of commuting to Los Angeles County for meets. Some high schools, including Santa Margarita and St. Margaret’s, give a varsity letter or physical education credits for competing.
Most of the riders, about 90% of whom are female, own or lease a horse--usually a thoroughbred--and are responsible for much of its care, including grooming. The majority reside in southern Orange County.
Like the students she trains, Dana Smith was bitten by the equestrian bug as a young girl.
“When I was young, I just got the fever,” said Smith, who trains riders at Rancho Sierra Vista Stables in San Juan Capistrano.
“Didn’t want dolls, just little plastic horses. My dad was a crop duster [in El Centro] and my mom was a secretary for a produce firm. I was just raised in the country around horses, and was just crazy about them. My parents were very supportive when I started showing as a youngster.”
The students Smith coaches aren’t exactly country girls, although there are areas in Orange County that might pass as the set for a Western movie. Among her students are 11 girls who compete in the league.
When the bug bites, it often sinks its teeth into the young. Kimberly Hezzelwood, a ninth grader at Aliso Niguel High, has been riding for 10 years. She’s 15.
“I love horses. I love riding. It’s a great stress-reliever,” she said. “I want to become a trainer and hopefully go to the Olympics and ride Grand Prix.”
The equestrian league is not sanctioned by the Southern Section. In fact, competition is not limited to high school students. One of Smith’s students, Krissy Raiger, 12, goes to Mariners Christian School, a junior high in Costa Mesa.
El Nino has wreaked havoc with the schedule. Two of seven meets have been pushed back because of soggy conditions at the Orange County Fairgrounds. But officials are optimistic about finishing the regular season with seven meets, ending April 26.
After the April 4-5 meets, St. Margaret’s leads the team standings with 1,594 points. Santa Margarita is second with 1,468 points, La Habra third with 1,242 and Marina fourth with 1,155. All shows begin at 8 a.m. and run till 4 p.m. at the Orange County Fairgrounds, weather permitting. Santa Margarita has won the league title every year since the IEL seceded from Los Angeles in 1993.
“It’s not just something you decide to do and next week you go to a show,” Smith said. “It takes hours and hours of practice. Becoming a team with their horse. Working together, practicing together. Getting skilled together.”
Said Allison Powell, a freshman at St. Margaret’s: “I think the thing I like best is working as a team. Because working with an animal, you learn that not everything goes with the flow.”
Trabuco Hills’ Griffin, who trains at Serrano Creek Ranch in Lake Forest, does not own a horse.
“I ride a lot of different people’s horses, and I think it helps improve your riding habits because you learn to sit differently on each horse.”
As competitors get older, many will be faced with a dilemma: How to keep riding after going away to college.
“As far as riding,” Powell said, “I want to continue, but it depends on what college I go to. I want to stay local so I can continue.”
Parental support is crucial in this sport.
For the price some have paid for horses, stable fees and veterinarian bills, their children could be driving new cars. This is not a sport for those of modest means.
Karla Killion, a sophomore at Dana Hills, recently sold a mare, Vanessa, who was moody and didn’t compete well, and purchased a gelding in hopes he would be a more compatible partner.
“She initially leased a horse,” said her father, Leonard. “That’s when we determined she enjoyed it and was good at it. We bought her [the mare], and it didn’t work out. Karla had to make a pretty adult decision to sell that horse and go for a better horse for competition purposes. It was a big step for a 14-year-old to make. To say, ‘If I want to get better, I have to have a better vessel.’ It went from being a pet to being a better vessel for competition.
“Karla’s never gotten hooked on any other activity, like soccer or softball. She clicked with this, so she certainly has all our encouragement.”