National champs teach the basics in equestrian riding at Silver Creek|[6/11/06]

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 12, 2006

Young equestrians got to improve on their basic horse-riding skills Saturday from a pair of highly successful Auburn University coaches.

Coaches Joanna Booker and Lindsay Neubarth put 16 area riders and their horses through a variety of drills at Silver Creek Arena near Bovina. Booker and Neubarth helped coach Auburn to the Varsity Equine National Championship in April at New Mexico State University.

&#8220We were all about the basics today,” said Booker, a Brandon native who earned her bachelor and masters’ degrees from Mississippi State. She finished her first year as a coach at Auburn working with the stock seat (western saddle) riders.

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&#8220I wanted to go over the fundamentals of reining, stopping, circling and rolling back,” Booker said.

Neubarth is the Tigers’ hunt seat (english saddle) coach. She coordinates dressage and jumping small fences. She is an Auburn graduate and competed for the Tigers’ Equestrian team.

A collegiate equestrian competition team is comprised by combining the skills of five stock seat riders and five hunt seat riders. The teams are judged in each of its disciplines and then the scores are combined.

At the national championships in Albuquerque, Auburn finished second in both hunt seat and stock seat, but when combined, the Tigers won first, beating out Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas A&M and New Mexico State.

&#8220We had a team that showed a lot of grit and determination,” Neubarth said. &#8220You need versatile riders. We go to 12 to 15 meets a season and when we go on the road, like to Georgia, we have to ride that school’s horses. It’s done on a draw, but if there is a bad horse, each team has to have someone ride it.”

At least one of the young riders, 9-year-old Elizabeth Wooten of Vicksburg, hopes to become good enough to compete for a school like Auburn.

&#8220That would be great,” Wooten said. &#8220Today I learned about where you need to be when your horse is about to jump.”

Neubarth said she spent the first two hours of the clinic working the hunt seat riders on what is called the flat, which means no jumping.

&#8220I wanted to see how well they knew the basics and did a lot of work on the flat. Then later we did the jumps. Jumps really are just obstacles to flat work,” Neubarth said.

While the hunt seat riders worked on clearing a 2 1/2 foot fence, Neubarth assessed their progress.

&#8220I thought all of them had a good level of riding ability. I got to spend more time showing them how to be more effective about jumping.”

Six-year-old Glen Allen Kittrell of Edwards worked with Booker.

&#8220I got to know how to hold the reins better and drive the horse with my legs down,” Kittrell said.

&#8220I thought all my riders showed great improvement over the day from when they started early in the morning,” Booker said.