“At this point it is such a big part of my life.  I don’t even think of it as an extracurricular anymore, it is just the other half of me, I can’t even explain why I like it anymore.” senior Jenna Mansueto said.

Like other students at Parker, Mansueto has taken an interest in an activity that in fact happens soley beyond the walls of Parker.  Mansueto is a competitive horseback rider, training at Spring Creek Equestrian Center, in Three Oaks, MI, alongside sophomore Ellie Buono. Mansueto has been riding horses, beginning at a horseback riding camp near her home in Michigan.

Since she began riding, Mansueto has competed in various Horse shows across the US, as well as in the Canadian national tournament each summer.  Mansueto compared horseback riding competitions to track meets. “There is a bunch of different events, and you can not win the entire show,” Mansueto said.  

Buono began competitively riding when she was 10 years old, after participating in a horseback riding summer camp at the age of four.  Currently, Buono rides two or three times a week during the school year and around 6 times a week during the summer. Similarly, Mansueto rides twice a week during the school year, driving an hour and a half to her barn each weekend, as well as almost daily during the summer season.

Buono and Mansueto have been competing alongside each other at various shows for the past 5 years now.  Both compete in about 10 to 15 competitions each year. “It’s nice to be completely away from the school, and the city, and to be removed from it all,” Mansueto said.

Horseback riding is a competitive sport, that has a variety of categorizes that a person may choose to compete in.  Both Buono and Mansueto have always rode and shown in equitation, a type riding that focuses on a rider’s position while mounted, and encompasses a rider’s ability to ride correctly and with effective aids.  Both riders do not jump with their horses, which is another popular type of riding, one that sophomore Teddi Pritzker regularly competes in.

“My favorite part about riding is that it is a partnership with an animal. It is about the effort and how much you give to each other,” Pritzker said. “It is amazing to have that connection and relationship with an animal.

Pritzker began riding when she was 6, and has been competing at various levels since she was 10.  Currently, she spends January through the end of March in Wellington, Florida, competing in the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).  WEF is a series of competitions that lasts 12 weeks during the winter, at the Palm Beach Equestrian center. At WEF, pritzker primarily keeps in jumping, but also shows in Equitational, much like Buono and Mansueto.  

Mansueto tends to compete in multiple categories, within equitation and with a variety of horses at each show she attends.  She has gained recognition and awards at both the US national tournaments as well as the Canadian ones too. Mansueto has been a Canadian national champion twice as well as reserve Canadian national champion another two times.

According to Pritzker, riders who want to go pro, or have a future, must commit in high school, as competitions begin to matter for a career.

Mansueto hopes to continue riding in college but must try out for the team upon arriving on campus in the fall.  If Mansueto continues to ride in school, it will be a much more vigorous practice schedule, with a new type of riding then what she is used to.  “I would actually be able to ride more in college then I do now, which would be great,” Mansueto said.