By Anna Melis

I’m not foaling around when I say there are many TPA students that ride horses. But hay, the more the mare-ier. Two of the said riders are Allie Evdokimo and Brenna Foreman. Though these two equestrians love what they do, they both are saddled by a large amount of hard work.

Sophomore Allie Evdokimo has been riding horses for about six years. She competes almost every month and has become quite an expert in the field. One of her very favorite things about the sport is learning. She seems to have learned a ton while riding that has helped her with her daily skills.

Not surprisingly, riding horses has helped her learn to drive much quicker. She said, “It helps because you have to be aware of your surroundings and you have to know how to turn well.” So new drivers and eager future drivers, if you want to learn to drive faster just take up horse riding.

There are quite a few different types of riding styles and Allie does western. Western style was derived from the cowboys and ranchers while the other common style, English, was derived from the traditional horse riding practices in *drumroll please* England! I’ll stop horsing around now.

Brenna Foreman, an eighth grader, rides English style. She has been riding for only two years but has learned a whole lot in those two years. She has learned many aspects of horse riding that are less than glamorous.

She recalls one of the most embarrassing things that can happen while riding a horse and that is “when the horse poops.” She says this is particularly awful because “you have to stand up when your horse poops or else it’s bad for them.” This can cause quite a spectacle, especially if you are competing because, as Brenna says, “ you have to stop completely and wait for the horse to finish while the judges are telling you to do something.”

Another thing to worry about when riding a horse is spooking the horse. According to Brenna, spooking the horse can result in some pretty funny experiences. One of these instances happened when she was riding and a pole was just a tad off-center and it caused the horse to buck her off.

Allie had a similar experience: “Once when I was riding a pony and the pony got spooked and she ran off without me while I was on her back. It really hurt but looking back it is really funny.”

No worries though, they both made stable recoveries.