Diary of a South Pasadena Equestrian Jumper

By Sophie St.Clair

Editor's note: Last month, Sophie St.Clair, a 9th-grade freshman at South Pasadena High School, traveled to Sacramento with her horse Sjapoo (pronounced Sha-Po) to compete in the children's and adult West Regional Jumper Championships of the United States Hunter Jumper Association, a prestigious equestrian competition to which only the best qualifying riders from the Western United States are invited. Ranked the Number One children's jumper rider in California, St. Clair won a silver medal for the team championship and placed fourth overall. Below is a slightly edited excerpt from the final entry in a blog series titled "Diary of a Podium Hopeful," which St. Clair began writing in August.

Last week I travelled to Sacramento to compete in the USHJA Children’s and Adult Amateur West Regional Jumper Championship. The event was held at Murieta Equestrian Center in Rancho Murieta, CA. My week began with our departure from South Pasadena, where my barn is located, to follow my trainer David Sterckx and my horse Sjapoo on the 400-mile journey to get there.

After going over my checklist a few times to be sure we’d packed everything we needed, we were off. Following Sjapoo it was easy to see that he is an excellent traveller. Not spooky and moved around very little. The weather and the traffic cooperated nicely the whole way. We arrived in the beautiful Rancho Murieta countryside with no problems.

It was the first time I would be in charge of the feeding, mucking and full care of my horse without the aid of a groom—something that had been nagging at me in the back of my mind. I found that I was capable of taking care of my horse and had a great sense of pride in how he was cared for and turned out.

Sjapoo was a reflection of me and my efforts and he looked amazing. I hacked to get him moving after the long journey from South Pasadena and then cleaned and prepped him for a jog. After a quick lesson in the proper way to jog, we were ringside waiting for our names to be called. We went in the ring and while I was nervous that I’d do it wrong, Sjapoo was fresh and flirty and had no problems showing how fit he was to the veterinarian. We cleared the jog and headed to the riders meeting.

The following day was the first individual qualifier—a speed class with all 38 horses from the combined Children’s and Adult sections. The format is a bit different in that what is most important in the rounds for this week is to be clean with no faults. I placed 4th Overall with no jumping or time faults. Phew! I was nervous and stressed because I knew I needed to do well. When I heard my results I was thrilled. Sjapoo and I were off to a great start.

The next day was the Children’s Team Championship. The format of the day consisted of two rounds of the same course. Fewest faults calculated between the two rounds determined the final placing for the teams. I was riding last for my team. I don’t know if you could officially call me an “Anchor” but I certainly felt that way. Riding last for my team had the added pressure of determining the fate of my team for the good or the bad.

Peyton Masteller and her beautiful, very careful horse Pikador went first and like the day before was fault free. Next was Lauren Kee and her mount Lisnamult Lili. She picked up four faults in her first round. Jayme Omand and Legis Maloubet rode next and they finished fault free. Last was me and Sjapoo.

I am admittedly nervous and want to do really well for my team. Our team has four faults in this round and I need to deliver. I think, though, my nerves had the upper hand. I rode OK, not my best and while I was clear throughout the course I got excited to finish and dropped the last rail. The price of looking forward rather than staying in the moment.

Time to retool for the second round. Fortunately, it was the same course so now I had a better feel for how it rides. Most important though was to step back, take a breath and execute David’s plan as we discussed. Sjapoo was a prince and performed so well under the pressure.

Saturday was a day off. I hacked Sjapoo early in the morning like I did everyday. Then a quiet day at the hotel finishing homework that needed to be done before returning to school. In the late afternoon I went back to the barn to take Sjapoo out on the trails to relax both of us a bit.

It’s really pretty in Rancho Murieta and the facility is very nice. We stayed for the Grand Prix that night. There were 71 competitors in the class many of who were prepping for the World Cup Qualifier next Saturday.

Sunday, the final two rounds of the week for the Individual Final are today and I am sitting tied with Madison Myro for sixth place going into it. I carried forward my four faults from the Team Championship (very costly) and know I need to have two clean rounds to stay in the ribbons. Those are the facts with simple math. I have no choice but to go clean.

The format today is two different rounds, two different courses. I will ride eleventh. The rounds are moving very fast. I take a deep breath and ride my round executing the plan from David and finish clean and clear. I did a couple of jumps in the warm up ring and headed back to the arena. I stayed focused and in the moment with each jump and finished clean and clear.

Sjapoo was perfect today. Just perfect. With that round I secured my fourth place standing. I could really relax now and watch the jump off to determine first, second and third. I was really pulling for my teammate Peyton Masteller to win. But in the end it would be Serenity Phillips and her Tesoro that would take first, Dalan Laughlin and Orchidee in second and Peyton Masteller and Pikador in third. Each of these girls would have been a worthy winner as they all carried zero faults through all five rounds and were fabulous riders. Very deserving medal winners.

So what did I learn? I learned that I can perform under the biggest pressure I have ever experienced and how to recognize when it’s my nerves getting in the way of my skills. When I recognize that, I can rely on my training to pull me through. I have learned there is a strategy to earning the points to qualify and being mindful of the careful management of my horse: not overjumping him, making sure he is sound, that he’s eating healthy and has the right supplements to perform his best.

I have learned that I can care for my horse and his needs in a way that I can be proud of. And that competing in championships like this in the future is definitely something I will work toward.