I had a fantastic time at the 2026 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship. This year’s Nationals was not my first time. I also had the opportunity to compete for the Otterbein University Equestrian Team last year when I competed in Novice Equitation and placed second. I was ecstatic to get to compete again this year! 

The Otterbein team traveled from Ohio on Thursday. For this season, I have moved up to The Chronicle of the Horse Team Limit on the Flat. Prior to Nationals, I had only competed in the division six times, including our Zone 6 Finals. At Zones, I placed third out of four, which really worried me about how I would perform at Nationals. 

With just a month to get it together, I spent hours practicing and preparing for the Nationals. I had a unique experience before this show when I competed in the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) Nationals in St. Louis the weekend prior. I only had two days to transition back into a hunt-seat position before driving down to Tryon.

It’s Show Time!

Waking up Friday morning, I was a bundle of nerves. But I didn’t even need to be nervous yet. Team Limit Flat was the last class of the day! I got to the venue at 6:30 a.m. to support my teammates in their individual classes. One of my favorite parts of any show is getting to watch my teammates and cheer them on. All my teammates laid down beautiful classes, and I was so proud of them. After 10 long, grueling hours, it was finally time for my class. By this point in the day, I was hungry, tired and just ready to be done.

The draw is the most nerve-racking part of the day. Who you draw determines how difficult or how easy your ride will be. While waiting for the draw, I talked to a few different people in my class about what schools they were from and which horses they wanted to draw. Finding out that everyone was just as nervous as I was made the whole ordeal easier. 

I ended up drawing a horse I had not seen in the schooling ring. When there are over 50 horses schooling, it’s hard to keep track of who is who. Instead, I had to rely on what I was told about the horse by another rider in the class.

My Turn in the Show Ring

When the horse and I entered the ring, I adjusted my position and we marched along. Upon starting the trot, I immediately realized this horse was very slow. I knew I would have to keep pushing through the whole class to stay at a consistent pace. 

By lap two around the arena, I was already breaking a sweat. Sitting the trot, I had to work hard to stay strong in my position and keep my leg in place as the horse did not have much of a barrel for my legs to mold around. His canter was lovely, and I could keep a good, following arm, but I had to use my leg to maintain a consistent pace. I tried to establish enough forward by the quarterline in front of the judge, making sure I looked poised and professional when I was in the spotlight. While the horse was a great ride, he wasn’t the flashiest in the arena, so I had to work extra hard to show off against the horses who would draw the judge’s eyes.

Additional Testing in the Class

After we worked both directions, the judge started calling eight riders to stay out for the test. At this point, I wanted to move forward in the class, but I was overheating in all my show clothes and concerned about doing more work. They called out numbers to continue working on the rail. The first seven numbers got called, and I started to feel worried. I would be so disappointed in myself if I did not earn points for the team.

“…141. Those eight riders stay on the rail and go straight to the trot,” the announcer said.

I was overjoyed to hear my number called, and I took a deep breath as I proceeded on to the test portion of the class. We went through the same motions that we had worked on in the first part of the class. As tired as I was, I really hoped they would call for riders to drop their stirrups, since I had been practicing it the most and felt confident in my ability to demonstrate it. Unfortunately, we kept our stirrups the whole time, but as the final eight continued working, the judge began singling out riders to head to the middle of the ring. I kept on trucking, even though it was stressful hearing riders get dismissed from the test, hoping it wouldn’t be me. 

By the time they finished calling numbers, there were only five left on the rail. I was starting to get very weak in my position, growing tired from keeping the horse moving forward. I knew that I wouldn’t end up in the top three, but I felt assured of a decent placing in the class, knowing I was testing with the final five. 

After what felt like eons with my face flushed with exhaustion and uncomfortable sweating under my jacket, all riders were finally excused from the ring.

The Results Are in

In the awards line-up, I was very nervous but also excited, knowing that I would be earning my team points toward our overall score. I chatted with the girl in line next to me, who was also in the final five testing, and we shared our experiences in the class.

When I was called for fifth place, I felt a rush of joy. Maybe I’m odd, but I much preferred getting a beautiful pink fifth-place ribbon over a plain white fourth-place ribbon. 

I’m so grateful for the sponsors who contributed prizes for the show, making every win even sweeter. Since I knew I wasn’t looking my prettiest in the ring, I was curious to see what everyone would think. But everyone was so proud of me, and I couldn’t be more overjoyed! 

My teammates cheered for me when I came out of my ring, and my trainers were very proud of me for being able to hold my own against the top riders in the country. It was a wonderful end to a tough class, and I couldn’t have been more grateful to have the most amazing team supporting me. Our team ended up in fifth place in the nation! Go OCET!

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