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Jumping for Joy w ritte n by SH E R I L BE N NE T T T UR NE R & photo g raphed by KRIS DECKER
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welve-year-old Kiowa Waters loves to jump. Jump horses to be more precise. Competing in horse shows since the age of three, Kiowa has consistently ranked in the top three in points in her division every year in shows sanctioned by the Blue Ridge Hunter Jumper Association (BRHJA), Progressive Show Jumping (PSJ), the South Carolina Hunter Jumper Association (SCHJA), the North Carolina Hunter Jumper Association (NCHJA), and Horse Show Ventures. But for Kiowa, who has Cherokee blood on both sides of her family and is named in honor of another Native American tribe, riding horses seems to have just come natural. It all began at Kiowa’s first birthday party, when her parents, Claudia and Mitchell, brought in a pony to give the kids rides. By the time Kiowa’s second birthday rolled around, they had to get two ponies—one for Kiowa and one for the rest of the kids—because Kiowa loved it so much. After that, Kiowa started taking formal lessons. Claudia explains. “I wanted to give her every opportunity to find something that she just loved. I put her in several things when she was young including dance, but she cried when she had to go. I knew she loved riding when she was always excited about going to lessons. She could be in the pool swimming and I’d say, ‘Come on Kiowa. It’s time to go.’ She didn’t care if she had a whole pool full of friends; she was out
and getting ready. So I’m like, okay, this must be her thing.” Kiowa’s “thing” soon became her passion when she started riding with trainer, Linda McDaniel. Linda, originally from Texas, moved to Campobello in 1994 and started the Pony Patch barn. “I specifically picked this area because of all the horse activities here,” she says. “Occasionally we train adults, but really we’re a kid barn. A lot of the barns cater to the adults and don’t want all the kids underfoot, but I enjoy working with the young ones. Where other barns won’t start them off until they’re ten, I like to start them at around age three before they have a fear of falling off the horse. It’s like swimming. It’s better to start them off as water babies so that they never have that fear of the water.” Linda and her daughter Katie, a national champion horse rider, currently train around 35 students ranging in age from five to twenty. Most of their students start off learning the western style of riding, taking advantage of the trails cut out in the woods behind the barn. “Some of the kids in the past have showed western or barrel raced,” Linda says, “but because the English style is so popular in this area, after they’re here a while, they get the bug and want to learn how to jump and show English style.” In English show jumping, the Hunter division demands that a horse look smooth, fluid, and pretty, while following technically difficult jumping guidelines. The Jumper division GreerNow OCTOBER 2008
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is based on the pure speed and accuracy of the horse as they jump over fences without knocking the rails down, baulking, or falling. The Equitation division, unlike the previous two categories, judges the rider and their use of nearly invisible aids to control their horse over the jumps. “Kiowa,” Linda says, “started off in the Hunters division and then the Equitation. Now she’s moved up into the Jumpers. If they are going to do the Jumpers, I try to get them to also do either the Equitation or the Hunters as well so they don’t get too wild and crazy. Kiowa enjoys doing the Equitation Medal classes, which is the elite of the classes, and the Jumpers.” The farm also has eighteen horses available for students without horses of their own to learn the ins and outs of riding. “Most of our school horses are retired show horses,” Linda says. “We’ve been fortunate to have friends on the A circuit giving us their old show ponies because they didn’t want to sell them.” As a student progresses, they often will purchase their own pony or horse, which must also be trained for the rider. “For two years while I was on the A circuit, I took young horses and trained them,” says Katie. “You get a pretty good idea the first time you sit on one what they’re suited for. Usually a horse can be useful in some aspect like if he’s not a very good Hunter, he may make a cute Jumper or an Equitation horse. If they’re quiet and easy to ride, he might
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become an amateur horse. Some come to us already trained and you might have to rebuild them, or retrain them.” Students are also responsible, once they are big enough, for catching up the ponies, turning them in and out, feeding and watering them, as well as grooming them. “Kiowa lives close by and comes every day.” Linda says. “Kids learn so much if they’re fortunate enough to do that. On most horse farms, the top riders are usually the trainer’s kids and working students because they ride all kinds of different horses. Kiowa has ridden about every horse on the farm.” By the time Kiowa was seven, though, she had exceeded all of the abilities of the horses on the farm, so her parents purchased her first pony, Napoleon. As Kiowa grew, both in size and ability, new ponies were bought. “We’re always sad when we have to replace a horse,” Claudia says, “but, as Linda says, we can’t keep them all. We have to let them go on to teach someone else how to ride.” Interestingly enough, show ponies and horses sometimes will have two names—a barn name and a more colorful show name. For example, Kiowa’s current pony, a Thoroughbred Welsh jumper known around the barn as Sabrina, has an alternate ego in the ring as Abracadabra. But more important than the name is picking the right horse for the job. Currently Kiowa—riding Abracadabra/Sabrina—is in first place in the region (PSJ and BRHJA) in the Hopeful Jumpers division (jumping 2’6” inch fences) and in
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Progressive Jumpers division (jumping 2’9” fences). In the 11 and Under division (jumping 2’3” fences), Kiowa is Champion in Horse Show Ventures, Reserve Champion in BRHJ, and finished the 2007 season as Champion with the highest points in the PSJ Pony Medal division. Kiowa also shows in the PSJ and NCHJA equitation Pony Medal classes where, at the end of the year, the top fifteen riders are invited to compete against each other. In these classes, Kiowa rides a medium pony called Joe Boxer/Joe, borrowed from friend and fellow rider Hannah Siegel. Kiowa and Joe Boxer finished the 2007 season as Small/Medium Pony Hunter Champion with the highest points for the year in SCHJA, BRHJA, and PSJ, and this season she is currently in first place again. Next season, riding her new Appendix jumper, Game On/Cash, Kiowa will be moving up to Low Schooling Jumpers (jumping 3’ fences) and to Child Adult Jumpers (jumping 3’3” fences). “But,” says her mom, “Kiowa is getting too big for Joe so we are desperate for a large pony or equitation horse for her to do the PSJ Junior Medal, BRHJA medal, and SC Governor’s Cup Medal show at year end.” In addition to her accomplishments in the horse ring, Kiowa is also an honors student at Landrum Middle School, has been chosen for People to People Student Ambassador Programs, and is a gifted young artist who especially loves to draw—you guessed it—horses. Last year as a sixth grade student, one of her pieces entitled “Two Colts” was chosen in a competition as one of the winners to be displayed in the Milliken Art Gallery,
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which is housed in the Spartanburg County School District One office. But in spite of all her accomplishments, Kiowa, says Claudia, is really nonchalant about her achievements. “When we were at the medals last November, I was more nervous than she was. Kiowa was in the car watching TV! She is very humble about her gifts.” When asked about her natural horsemanship, Kiowa proved her mother right. “I feel like I’m good at it but I have good days and bad days like everyone.” But although humble, Kiowa certainly does not lack ambition and drive. “I’d really like to go pro one day and maybe even participate in the Olympics,” Kiowa says with a smile. “I’d also like to go to college and be a trainer someday.” Whatever the future holds for Kiowa, one thing is for sure—it will include horses. Right now, though, she’s just a typical twelve-year old girl, albeit a very talented one, enjoying the moment and her favorite part of riding. “I love jumping!” she says. “It feels like you’re soaring through the air!” d
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