Absolutely lovely ride by Sea Change Farm on SVF Change Up. The poor horse was terrified of his first night class and she immediately converted from chasing a ribbon to a educational schooling round.
I saw that too and thought she did an amazing job! I wish more folks got noticed for things like this–maybe a horsemanship award or something at the big shows? She rode him quietly and with confidence and gave him the time to take everything in and relax. A masterclass on reading the situation and doing the best for the animal.
He looked so much more relaxed at the end of the round, that was impressive.
I loved watching that ride. He gained so much from her patiently guiding him around than he would have if she’d have muscled and pushed him. He wasn’t going to win the second he walked in with his eyes the size of saucers but he learned so much. Maria did a beautiful job with him
I think she’s going viral for that round - as she should! Brings literal tears to my eyes to see that kind of sportsmanship and horsemanship. Lovely!
Is there a non-Facebook link to the round?
ETA: SVF Change Up goes at just about the 2:00 mark on the Youtube video.
The video is.
Ironically a lot of the worst horsemen I know are posting it like “look at this example, we should all learn from” and I’m thinking “yeah, maybe the change should start with you.”
It’s DEFINITELY going viral on the socials.
Maria is a lovely person and an incredible professional. Class act all-around.
This article includes both rounds from the winner.
If I won the lottery, I would have Maria ride all my horses.
Yes! It gets me emotional to see someone truly be so so kind to an animal and give them the ride they need - she held his hand, never got mad at him, and helped him through it. I would be so proud to have Maria ride my horses if I were one of her owners
And thank you to the commentators, who saw how nervous the horse was. Rather than just scoff off the ride with a curt “not her day today” they focussed on the horsemanship.
A related note: I watched the guy who rode my mare in Thermal have a tough time with another horse and I was blown away by his reaction - not once did he use his stick and this horse was backing quickly, going sideways, etc. just a kind forward legging on with soft guiding hands.
Proud to spend my hard-earned dollars supporting the good ones!
Here’s an article talking about a situation at the jumping competition at Abu Dhabi last week, similar to Maria R’s at WEF, involving Skylar Wireman:
It’s so nice to see such positive press surrounding the hunter/jumper industry in the US - something we don’t see often. I hope it continues.
The article seems to turn into a dig on the pony eq finals decision to give a kid a do-over and then place her at the top - I didn’t finish reading it because it seemed a bit excessive and a little out of place in such detail so maybe my impression is wrong. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing much more of Skylar representing the US in the future!
