Whether competing on your own horse or on horses loaned to an organization, the confidence and skills gained in the arena are undeniable. For youth riders, beginners, and seasoned veterans of the show pen.

In the horse industry, most competitive riders come into riding with a similar plan: purchase a horse, put the horse with a trainer, and then compete to achieve singular goals. This is how I viewed the horse industry, too, when I focused on training and coaching amateur and youth riders. Today, though, I have a new outlook on how riders are getting into the horse industry. Along with new entryways to competing are new ways that riders are broadening their skill sets horseback, and inevitably, creating more confidence in their own abilities.

Youth Riding Programs

Have you heard of YEDA? The Youth Equestrian Development Association is a newfound passion project I am involved with. It is shining a light on team competition, like that in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) or National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA). YEDA is geared toward 4th grade through 12th grade aged youth and focuses on riding at an introductory level. Many of these kids don’t own a horse or can’t afford a horse. But they ride horses that are donated for the organization’s use. They compete on these horses that they have never ridden before! The riders do have a pre-determined pattern that they use, and they can practice the pattern. Just not on the horse they show.

The concept is not wholly unique to those riders who have come from collegiate equestrian teams. Yet it is opening doors to how more youth can join the ranks of our horse show family. What is refreshing about YEDA’s youth is that they love the horse, they love riding, and they love practicing maneuvers and learning patterns. But they are not always focused on the win.

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For a longtime trainer, it’s stimulating to see kids come together in a team atmosphere. From my point of view, the horse industry has kind of lost that camaraderie in the show world as we know it because so many riders are going for awards based on individual success. These youth are doing a team sport; there’s bonding between kids and their families.

Show Pen Confidence

As a part of YEDA, I have witnessed riders who have gone through the introductory level, through the show circuit, and moved to the collegiate side. And their confidence and expectation is considerably different than what you see in individualized competition. Those riders who have gone through team competition are very competitive. With YEDA, riders get on at the gate, adjust their stirrups, and compete. The horses that are brought to the shows have different levels of experience. Yet, the rider still must find middle ground to get the pattern done.

Youth who graduate from team type of programs and move into the amateur world already have a master’s degree in competition that is second to none. For those riders who come into the equine industry and buy their own horse to learn and compete on, their reactions in the show pen are second nature. The riders who compete on different horses must anticipate before the maneuver and react when it does happen. The keen sense they learn through trial and error really teaches them a lot about horsemanship.

Working in this atmosphere has made me a far better instructor now that I see what the youth encounter in this team competition. As a coach, I now talk about what might happen with a horse out of a turn. You start to see where trouble spots are and as a coach, I can help them understand some things they might want to anticipate. You can practice all you want at home, learn the skillset and the maneuvers, and you can ride different horses, but when you’re in competition, you don’t know what you’re going to have to show. Most of the time, the horse will change at the show, and that’s the challenge for the rider.

As a horse trainer and coach, Dianne Eppers has helped amateur and youth ride to the highest levels of Quarter Horse competition. A charter member of the organization, Eppers helmed the National Snaffle Bit Association as the executive director for a decade from 2005 to 2015 and served as a senior advisor. She was inducted into the NSBA Hall of Fame in 2016 and was named the AQHA Professional Horsewoman of the Year in 2010. Eppers lives in McHenry, Illinois, and continues to coach riders of all ages.