Rider shows up the competition | Sports | Summerville Journal Scene

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Rider shows up the competition

Published Thursday, October 09, 2008 11:38 AM

By Roger Lee
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Many people would be intimidated by having to control a beast that dwarfs them physically but for Jordan Singleton it comes natural.

The 14-year-old Summerville High School freshman has shown horses since she was 5 so controlling the beasts doesn’t really present much of a problem to her. In fact, she is becoming quite accomplished at horse showing.

In July, Singleton won a regional championship at an Arabian Horses Association show in Virginia. On her horse LaCoda, she turned in the top performance over riders from several different states.

More recently, she out performed much more experienced riders at the Canadian Nationals event in Saskatchewan. During her first time competing at a national event, Singleton placed fourth in her age group in one of the biggest classes for the Junior To Ride division.

“It was really exciting,” she said. “I was happy to place in the top 10 for such a tough competition. Usually I wouldn’t get so excited over a fourth-place finish, but this is a big deal.”

According to her mother, the event in Canada is one of only three nationals held in North America. And Singleton can’t compete in one because it is for riders 18 and over only.

During competitions, she and LaCoda are judged on things such as how well the horse follows her instructions, their posture, if they are in frame and how naturally they appear together when they perform maneuvers such as walking, trotting, cantering, galloping and reversing.

At a typical show, they may take 40 laps around the arena. It’s physically demanding for the riders and requires them to have a lot of leg strength. Singleton says because the judges expect everything to seem effortless, it can be mentally demanding as well.

“People think it’s easy, that you just get up there and go and do what the judges say, but it’s not that easy,” she said. “You get hot and you don’t just have to worry about controlling a 1,000-pound horse, you have to worry about your own posture. Sometimes people try to cut you off to mess you up. You have to manage the ring well so you don’t end up hidden behind other horses. My horse is a lot smaller than some others so I really have to watch out for that.”

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

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104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax