Perspective From the Sidelines With Olivia Tordoff- AQHYA World Show

Just a few weeks ago, during the Buckeye Classic Horse Show in her home state of Ohio, AQHA youth Olivia Tordoff faced a very scary scenario. Her beloved horse, Sterling Version, had to be rushed into emergency surgery at the nearby Ohio State University Equine Center. Thanks to the quick work of Dr. Alison Gardner and staff, they were able to diagnose that Sterling was suffering from an uncommon type of colic called epiploic foramen entrapment. 

Thankfully, surgery went very well, and Sterling is now home where he continues to improve with the hopes that he may be back to his normal self by the All American Quarter Horse Congress. Sadly, that meant Olivia wouldn’t be able to compete here at the Youth World with Sterling. However, in a lovely show of good sportsmanship, Olivia was here on the sidelines to watch the entire Horsemanship preliminaries and finals. 

Here is her account of the class, from the sidelines. 

EC Blog by: Olivia Tordoff

Tuesday’s Horsemanship finals at the 2016 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship show was filled with challenging competition and stellar performances all around. Abbi Demel ultimately came out on top with a graceful performance. Her maneuvers were crisp and precise while remaining soft and effortless.

The pattern included an innovative extended lope line as well as a lead change through the counter canter. A compelling component of the pattern was the transition from the extended lope to a collection and then finally to the walk. This was a maneuver that all the finalists executed effortlessly.

It appears as though all the hard work put in by each and every finalist paid off in the end. Although I was seriously heartbroken I did not have the opportunity to compete this year, I was more than impressed by the level of competition, plethora of talent, and can’t wait to practice that pattern at home. Congratulations to all for making the finals a demonstration of true horsemanship.

While Olivia wasn’t able to compete with Sterling, she did ride her other horse, Too Blazing Cool, and will be returning to the finals of Hunter Under Saddle this evening. We wish them the very best of luck!