Sarah Coventry
My name is Sarah Coventry. I am 17 years old and am finishing my last 3 weeks of year 12.
I began riding when I was ten years old. My parents gave me 10 riding lessons as a birthday present. The plan was that Mum and I could go riding together. Riding and horses have been an interest within my family since my Mum was a young girl and riding is still my favourite thing to do. After I completed my 10 lessons I was given the opportunity to have a loan of a beautiful pony named Lady, thanks to the generosity of Belinda Norris. From here we never looked back. Lady and I started at Boudii Pony club and we had so much fun there. The learning curve was steep and I can still remember how proud I was when we were classified to jump E grade. That year I was named as Most Improved Rider (Junior) I remember how excited Mum and I was to get our first trophy.
I competed with Wyong Pony Club for 4 years and rode numerous horses during that time, all of which have managed to buck me off at one point or another. My first truly leased horse was named Buster and he was just about the laziest horse I had ever seen. Anything other than walking would result in pig rooting and bucking. The dressage whip and I became good friends. I have ridden many horses since I was 10 years old and other than Lady they have definitely not been easy but I think that is what gave me confidence to be able to get on a horse and trust that I can ride it, because if you don't have the confidence in yourself how can you have confidence in your horse?
My first bought 'pony' was a horse called Secrets. I have had her for six years and during that time we have competed at Pony Club, done Hacking and now we do Dressage. Within the hacking circle Secrets was a Supreme Champion led Arabian Derivative mare on a number of occasions and in ridden classes there were some successes. I enjoyed hacking, but I much prefer dressage. In a way I think it is less stressful for us and more enjoyable.
In Secret's and my time together, we have competed at many dressage competitions such as Central Coast Dressage, Somersby Equestrian Club, Alexander Park, and Hunter Valley. Last year I was Junior Rider 2008 for Central Coast Dressage Club and this year I am a sponsored rider for Somersby Equestrian Club. I competed at the Interschool's championships and qualified and competed in the Young Rider Championships. There have been some successes and some not so successful attempts but in the end it's really about being able to ride and enjoying it. Mum and I enjoy going to the dressage events and competing and we really enjoy it when Secrets enjoys herself!
Secrets' is certainly not an easy horse to ride. She can be very temperamental and inconsistent, with some days being absolutely wonderful and others not so wonderful. I never know what a competition will be like and sometimes that makes me really frustrated. But on the days that she works well it makes everything worthwhile. I might still only be at novice level but in saying this, the more I ride, the better I become and everyday is a new day. I still have the drive to try my best because horse riding is worth it. I must admit though that sometimes I would like an easier horse, but for now Secrets is the horse I have and the one with whom I will continue to strive to be the best with. Riding is not just my pass time, it's something I want to become successful at and be competitive and achieve at high levels. I've still got a while to go and it may not be on Secrets but in the end it's my love of horses that keeps me going.
