TEMPERANCE, Mich. — Stonehaven Farms is home to more than 30 horses and many student riders, specifically through the Interscholastic Equestrian Association.
The IEA teaches riders in fourth through 12th grade basic skills such as grooming, handling horses on the ground and riding different horses, likely the most important of all.
"They go to the shows and the format is they randomly get assigned a horse," said trainer and professional rider Samantha Rothman. "They have to learn how to ride that horse within a few minutes in their class and adapt to what the horse is and keep their show nerves under control.”
“I feel like the main thing is that you need to believe in yourself and know that you can handle it," said national qualifier 14-year-old Kendyl Delp Hartbarger. “A big part of it is staying calm, being patient and don’t be tense or else they’ll get tense.”
Stonehaven has had national qualifiers in the past, but now with the amount of participants all over the country, it is harder to advance.
But, Hartbarger, 14-year-old Hannah Trombley and 12-year-old Ana Jackson Rubenstein are all national qualifiers. And Ana came back a national champion out of 15,000 riders across 46 states.
"Just being able to get to nationals in their first and second year is huge," Rothman said. "Some people go their whole IEA career without making it."
Ana's win was the first time the farm had a national champion through IEA.
"What I think really caught the judge's eye was (Ana) just walked in there like she deserved to win and really wanted to show off," Rothman said. "And I think that’s what you need to do to win."
Ana knew the stakes were high when she saddled up.
"Going into nationals, I thought, this is my chance, so I’m going to really make it count," she said.
Ana is used to riding her own pony but had to quickly adapt to her assigned horse.
“For the first horse I got at nationals, she was pretty big but she felt pretty handy so I’d be able to take tighter turns," she recalled. “I was really nervous, but I just went in and went through one step at a time."
“I worked really hard for it and it felt good cause it’s like all my work paid off," she added.
Rothman added that she's excited for Ana and other riders to have confidence going into next year.
"I think just the motivation for all of my riders to do their best and really work hard this summer and know that if they put the work in, they do have the chance to be a national champion," Rothman said.