PG . 21
Prior to Q22 , Emmy rode Clooney around for the days leading up to the show , She just loved hanging out with Clooney , getting to know him and riding around bareback , as he is such a fun , cool horse to be around . She also thought about getting ready to meet new people and have fun with her horse . She worked him five times a week , doing lots of long trotting and breaking down of patterns .
‘ We focused strongly on pattern classes this year ,’ Emmy explains . ‘ The plan being for Clooney and I to gain more confidence , with exposure being our number one goal . I attended Q22 with limited expectations , perhaps just to gain that extra confidence , maybe snag a lesson or two , and of course , to make new friends . But what Q22 did was exceed all of these small expectations and more , and it spurred me on to perform better for our next show .’
With where the Andrews live , it ’ s so limited to what they can do . With very limited phone service and very little access to outside influences , Emmy had to bite her tongue a lot while her Mum , Kristy , got her and Clooney ready for the show .
‘ However , once finally at Tamworth ,’ Kristy said . ‘ We were incredibly lucky to have the support of a wonderful group of ladies , who took Emmy under their wing , helping her out so much , that it immediately boosted her confidence . Their help also gave a boost in horsey confidence to Clooney , both inside and outside of the show pen . All in all , this really helped them get ready to show ! We ’ re forever grateful to these four ladies that we now call our friends .’
Both Emmy and Kristy are forever grateful for the amazing guidance that these ladies , Annie Boyd , Rachel Turner , Janet Mansley and Carol Elliott gave to Youth rider and her horse . Just being able to be around and ride with such well-rounded , down-to-earth ladies was a blessing for Emmy .
Emmy competed at the pre-show and got her nerves under control for the follow up days that would be the National show . It was so wonderful too , that her grandparents drove the 1000kms to attend the Q22 to support her and be there with Emmy and Kristy . The pair was also delighted to have Gill Allen there in attendance to watch Clooney and Emmy perform . Everything and everyone had come together for Emmy , and she had a truly wonderful first ridden show . She ’ d really worked hard leading up to this show and her efforts were rewarded .
‘ I was excited and nervous ,’ Emmy said . ‘ But I still very focused on what we ’ d been working on . Because of the amazing support we ’ d been given , I was calm and happy , and felt that I rode beautifully . The thrill of doing well far outweighed any amount of nervousness that I felt . We won the Youth Halter class , and then went on to win the Supreme Youth Halter Horse , and then received a 4th in my Showmanship at Halter class . The following day we won our favourite event , the Novice Youth Western Horsemanship class , this being my proudest moment so far ! We then we placed 3rd in our Novice Youth Hunt Seat Equitation class , another of my favourite classes .’
AQHA JULY / AUGUST ISSUE 2022