A (champion) horse tale

Muffling the sound of the horses every step, the dirt floored arena accents the leg muscles of the exceptional equestrian gallantly galloping across the dust.

The unblinking eye of determination shows its face in the eyes of the animal and trainer.

Constantly battling internally whether to be more confident or nervous was second nature to Mount Vernon sophomore Maggie Dale while competing at the State Fair in August.

Dale earned first place in her division of the Trail competition, where competitors lead their horses to hop gates and maneuver around tight poles. Dale describes how one of the obstacles was to go through a large box, how this part makes a lot of horses very nervous and forces them to loose there cool.

But with only nicking a pole, Dale and her horse. three-and-a-half-year-old Chaco, slid right by.

When Dale got Chaco, he only knew how to run. She said she had to train him to do everything else. Visiting her horse seven days a week in the summer and five days during the school year, Dale trained Chaco into a champion.

Arriving at the State Fair was exciting, she said. Her horse stall was right next to all of her friends from the county fair. She spent the week going back and forth between hotel rooms and swimming in the hotel pool. But when show day came, Dale knew she had put in the extra mile to reach her goal.

'My horse is white so I had to wash it quite a bit at the fair,” she said. 'It was a lot of work.”

Dale entered many competitions at the fair, but Chaco's and her specialties are Trail and Ranch Horse Pleasure. Ranch Horse Pleasure consists of a horse being ridden around the arena, so that the horse looks comfortable enough to ride for a full day of work but also looks like it is going at a good speed.

Dale did very well in these two events, placing first in her division of Trail and second in Ranch Horse Pleasure, advancing Chaco and herself to the championships. The championships included first- and second-place finishers in all divisions for another round of competition. Again, in the championships, Dale earned second place overall, which is titled Reserve Champion in the equestrian world.

After the competition, Dale felt a sense of accomplishment.

'In a lot of sports your season just ends, but I've been training my horse all year-round in heat and rain and snow, so to get these titles is really rewarding,” she said.

Dale was asked to explain why she continues to show horses, despite the constant training, in five single words.

'The relationship with your horse,” she said.

Dale describes getting to know your horse's individual personality as the best part. She also said the constant training isn't so bad when it is something you have always loved to do.

Dale has been riding horses for more than half her lifetime, and every year she gets better and better. Dale said her goal for next year is the same as it was for this year - to do better than the year before.