Audrey Slater, of the Columbia High School Equestrian Team, competed in Huntseat Equitation at the Washington High School Equestrian Team state meet May 15-17 in Moses Lake. Slater placed seventh in the event.
Audrey Slater, of the Columbia High School Equestrian Team, competed in Huntseat Equitation at the Washington High School Equestrian Team state meet May 15-17 in Moses Lake. Slater placed seventh in the event.
Columbia High school, unbeknownst to most, is part of Washington High School Equestrian Team (WAHSET), and it just finished its 7th year of competition.
With a season that officially spans from January to May this group of riders met biweekly in Tedi Paasch’s indoor arena in Hood River. The team is represented by two freshman from Hood River Valley High School - Lauren Greenleaf and Grace Whitmore, two riders from Horizon Christian School - sophomore Jodi Hicks (non-competitor) and junior Sarah Ryan; and finally five from Columbia High School — senior Regina Bell, sophomore Audrey Slater, and freshmen, Lily Hill, Kailey Hakala, and Nora Robison.
Representing three different schools, coming together from three different counties, and collectively competing in over 10 different disciplines, these young ladies worked hard and as a result saw success on the score sheets, and personally as a team. For some it was their first year competing with a horse; several were on borrowed horses they were riding for the first time, and most tried events they had never attempted before. All knew themselves and their horses much better at the close of the season.
Head coach Laurie Bell reminds her team often that it is not her dream that they bring home the gold; her purpose in coaching is to train young riders to become great humans; people that will someday have the patience, problems solving skills, and understanding to be great parents, bosses, and coworkers.
She said, “I want these ladies to be a blessing to all they meet, usually that comes with losing, overcoming failure, and learning to perform extremely difficult maneuvers with a horse”. Every one of these girls recognized that as a good goal.
Laurie is well supported by several co-coaches: Tedi Paasch — dressage and jumping, Elizabeth Monbouquette — ground skills/showmanship, and the one that has been there since the beginning, Christina Hicks, who graciously took care of all the paper work, and helped coach even when her daughter could not join the team at competition because her rodeo schedule overlapped.
At the conclusion of their 2015 season, coaches still got to see some gold.
Regina Bell came home with four golds and one bronze for District 5, which qualified her for five events at the WAHSET State meet May 15-17 in Moses Lake. She took home the silver medal in Dressage, followed by a 5th in Huntseat, top 10 in Saddleseat and Huntseat Equitation over Fences.
Lauren Greenleaf earned a bronze in Huntseat Equitation over Fences at the district level, and Audrey Slater also qualified in the same event. Audrey placed seventh at state and Lauren just missed the top-ten cutoff.
Finally, performing a routine to, “What Does the Fox Say?” Sarah Ryan and Bell, after three years of fun routines together, took the district Gold in pairs and had a great time performing one last time together at state.
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