Three Virginians Represent Area II in Eventing at the CN North American Junior and Young Rider Championships

By Terri Haynie

From July 29 through August 3, three talented young riders from Virginia—Laura Roberts, Kaitlin Spurlock, and Benita Strini—represented three of six riders for Area II in the discipline of eventing at the CN North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colorado. Area II is comprised of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
According to the NAJYRC website, the event is “the premier equestrian competition in North America for junior and young riders, age 14-21. Young equestrians come from the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands to vie for Championships in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of show jumping, dressage, eventing plus, for the first time in 2008 the western style discipline of reining. The competition is run under rules of the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale, the international governing body for equestrian sport), the only FEI championship held in this country.”
Shortly before leaving to join the team in North Carolina where they were to spend 10 days training and coalescing as a team, each competitor spent a few moments with the Virginia Horse Journal. A short profile of each appears below. Though at press time the event had not yet taken place, there is no doubt that these young women represented Virginia with class, determination, and outstanding sportsmanship.
(To view results, visit www.youngriders.org/results_eventing.php)

Name: Laura Roberts
Age: 16 - Laura Roberts and Galways Blazer
Hometown: Herndon
Parents’ Names: Jeff and Tricia
Trainer: Jenn Simmons
Farm: Boards at Locochee Farm, Middleburg
School: Oakton High School, Herndon, rising junior
Riding History: “My mom had a riding school when I was born and started me on ponies, and I’ve been riding since. I grew up with it, started in my back yard, and then we moved, but I kept going,” said Roberts. She did a little bit of hunters with her first pony when she started out, and competed in her first event when she was 8 or 9. She got into eventing through Pony Club and feels that it is a very positive experience for young people. She is a member of Difficult Run Pony Club.
Favorite eventing element and why: “I like them all. I probably like show jumping a little more, but they’re all fun,” she said. Her horse loves his job, but seems to like dressage the best. According to Roberts, “He’s a fun little pony.”
Tell us about your horse: “He’s Galway’s Blazer, a Connemara-Thoroughbred cross. I’ve had him for about a year, he’s 13, gray, about 16 hands. Wendy Lewis had been riding him before me so he pretty much knows what he’s doing; he’s done the upper levels.”
What do you foresee as your biggest challenge? “I don’t know really…we’ve been doing all we can to prep, and you have what you have when you get there.”
What are your thoughts on safety in the sport of eventing? “You’ve got to know yourself and your horse and not push it any further than that. Virginia was like the biggest thing…I just watched my horse the whole cross country. If there was ever a point where he seemed tired, I just let him ease up a little bit to catch his breath and figure out where he was. You have to know your horse…your horse can’t get fit on the day of the show…you’ve got to work up to it, and if you don’t get all the way there, you don’t have 100 percent of what you need and you have to remember that on course.”
Family: Roberts comes from a “horsey” family background. Her whole family will accompany her to Colorado, even her 19-year-old brother who has never ridden.
Are you concerned about altitude? “We’re just getting him as fit as we can.”
Has this been a long time goal? “Pretty much all year we’ve been working to get there. Everything we planned was to get ready for Virginia, which was the main thing to qualify. We came in first.”

Name: Kaitlin Spurlock
Age: 17 - Kaitlin Spurlock and Baseline
Hometown: Lovettsville
Parents’ Names: Shauna and Gary
Trainers: Melissa Hunsberger and Phyllis Dawson
School: 2008 graduate of Loudoun Valley High School, will attend University of South Carolina in Aiken this fall.

Riding History: She began taking lessons at about age 5, doing local hunter and jumper shows. At around age 10 she moved on to Pony Club and lessons with Phyllis and Melissa, from whom she bought her first event horse that took her through novice and training levels, teaching her the ropes. She then bought her next horse, which took her through the preliminary level, but who could not have done the 1-star level. Last year, she bought the horse she qualified on, Baseline, a 7-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred.
Favorite eventing element and why: “Cross country is my favorite. I think if you do eventing you have to love cross country, but I really enjoy dressage. I can’t say that I really have a least favorite—riding in general is fun! My horse loves cross country the best.”
Tell us about your horse: “He’s kind of goofy--out in the field he’s always the one harassing the other horses, chasing them around. He’s got loads of personality.”
Are you concerned about high altitude? “No, not really…I think he’s very fit and everyone else will be in the same position we are.”
What do you foresee as your biggest challenge? “Maintaining my focus and not letting the competition get too big in my head, and mentally staying prepared. I just have to tell myself to relax and take it one step at a time, one moment at a time, just take all of it in because I think it’s going to be a really neat experience.”
How did you feel when you qualified? “I was really surprised. I wasn’t really expecting much from Baseline this year. It’s the first year I’ve really been competing him.”
How well do you think you will perform? “I’m really not sure…I’m just hoping to go and have a good time and that things will end up working out.”
Family: Spurlock’s family is very involved with horses. Both her parents are equine veterinarians and own Spurlock Equine Associates.

Name: Benita Strini
Age: 16 - Benita Strini and Cameron Creek
Hometown: Scottsville
Farm Name: Plain Dealing Farm
Parents’ Names: Bob Strini and Linda Wachtmeister
Trainers: Molly Bull and Lucia Strini
School: Tandem Friends School, Charlottesville
Riding History: “Oh my gosh, probably since I was three!” said Strini. Her mother grew up in Warrenton and loved eventing. While living in Seattle, she and her husband decided to move back to the east coast, and bought Plain Dealing Farm so that Linda could get back into eventing. Strini briefly rode with her local Pony Club but left at age 9 to train with Kim Severson and devote herself full time to eventing.
Favorite eventing element and why: “I actually love the dressage, which is interesting, because most eventers don’t like dressage—that’s kind of what they have to put up with. It’s definitely a challenge and it’s Cameron’s least favorite. He loves the cross country, he just despises dressage. It’s definitely much more of a challenge for us because he doesn’t especially want to do it at all, but I love it, and you know I think it’s just so beautiful, and you can see so much of the partnership between horse and rider in it. I love show jumping and the cross country too. I really love it all.”
Tell us about your horse: “His name is Cameron Creek. He is a Connemara-Thoroughbred cross, 10 years old. He has the largest personality ever. He is kind of a pony—he definitely likes to be the boss. He likes to think he’s in control…he pushes me around while I’m on the ground, pushes me with his head and tries to bite me and will also fall asleep on my shoulder—he’s just the sweetest horse in the world.”
Are you concerned about high altitude? “I am concerned. I’m trying to drink lots of water—I’ve heard that it’s good to be extra hydrated. I think none of us really know how the horses will handle it. Hopefully they’ll handle it well, but of course there’s always the possibility they’ll get off the trailer and they’re not going to be the same horse, not really feeling as well as they feel here. It will definitely be a test— it will definitely be more difficult than we’re used to. We’ll have almost a week before competition starts, which I think will really help the horses and riders get used to it as much as we can.
What do you foresee as your biggest challenge? “I think nerves will play a lot into it, because we’re going to all want to be at the top of our game and because we won’t be just letting ourselves down if we mess up, we’ll be letting the rest of the team down. I think that will go into it a lot…for all of us this is going to be the biggest competition we’ve ever been in.”
How did you feel when you qualified? “I was ecstatic. I wanted to be part of the North American Young Rider Championships ever since my sister went, and that was quite a few years ago. So I’ve just been trying to get there, and I’ve never been able to get to that level that was needed. I actually qualified last October but I never really knew if I was going to be a part of this.”
Family: Strini’s family is devoted to the sport at the highest level; Plain Dealing Farm is the home of recently-retired Winsome Adante, the only three-time winner of the CCI**** at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and member of the 2004 Olympic team. Strini will be accompanied by her family and other relatives while in Colorado.