October 2021 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN October 2021 Page 23 By Lois Szymanski Nearly 700 Interscholastic Equestrian Association riders were eligible for the 2021 Na- tional Sportsmanship Award, but first-place went to 18-year-old John Price of Danville, PA. The IEA National Sports- manship Award is given annually to a student rider, selected from a group of applicants who have earned a Sportsmanship Award that year at a local, regional or zone IEA show. With nearly 14,000 members across the United States who are riding and coaching Hunt Seat, Western, and Dressage disciplines, the non-profit IEA was organized to promote and improve the quality of equestrian competition and instruction avail- able to students in grades 4-12 at public and private schools and in barn teams. This year marks IEA’s 20th anniversary, and the national competition will be held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA in late April. John’s IEA coach, Kelly Smith-Wells of Turtleback Farm, said at IEA shows, participants don’t know which horse they’ll be riding. It is all luck of the draw. “IEA gives kids who don’t have their own horses an opportu- nity to ride quality animals and to show and exbibit their equitation skills on horses they have never been on before,” Smith-Wells said. “If they have good skill-sets they can get on any horse within reason. I love that it is a team sport. Here, the older kids help the younger kids, and they root each other on, and I love that.” John’s mom, Kathy Price recalled the show where John won his regional Sportsmanship Award, at The Grier School in Tyrone, PA. “We thought it was very appropriate because he pulled a very difficult horse that day,” Price said. “He did everything right, even though it was difficult. He used his skills and was patient and showed good sportsmanship. That horse was pulled after his ride, but they had noticed how he handled the horse and the situation.” Smith-Wells agreed. “Throughout the day this horse was giving all the kids problems. John went into the ring and did the best job,” she said. “The horse was jigging the whole time. He wouldn’t walk and was going down the arena sideways. But John came out of the ring so poised, even smiling, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. The ring steward was the one who recommended John for the sportsmanship award that day.” Because of Covid, other team members were not al- lowed in to watch the show, but they watched it stream live on Facebook. Smith-Wells (who is also one of John’s high school Ag teachers and an FFA advisor) said she was getting texts from his team members, saying he needed a re-ride. “It was so good that the other kids could see how he came out Pennsylvania Student Wins the IEA Sportsmanship Award just smiling - such a great ex- ample,” she said. “All year long, John seemed to pull the bad hors- es,” she said with a laugh. “This was the last show [of the season] and we were thinking his luck had to get better, but it didn’t!” Afterward, John - like other local and regional Sportsmanship Award winners - was invited to apply for the National Sports- manship Award, submitting a photo, resume, school transcripts, a 250-word essay explaining how horses and/or equestrian compe- tition has influenced his life, and three letters of recommendation. In his essay, John wrote: “My involvement with horses and other equine activities has made a positive impact on my life. The summer before middle school, I decided to ‘take the reins’ and begin riding lessons. I was not a confident person, and in school, I had trouble finding friends. After a long day at school, I’d go to the barn to de-stress. Becoming more involved with horses, I quickly learned that horses were my way of coping. I grew close to one horse in particular. Sam was a horse nobody ever rode. Finally, I saved up enough money cleaning stalls to buy Sam. Working with him every day helped me cope with my anxiety.” John spoke of what the award means to him. “Winning this award will help me in college, since it is a scholarship,” he said. “It encour- ages good sportsmanship for fu- ture IEA riders and overall builds friendships and more opportuni- ties in the horse industry. I plan to go to college to study equine business and ride on an IHSA [Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association] team. Feather Fund Winner In addition to his IEA expe- rience, John was awarded a Chin- coteague Pony foal in 2018 from the Feather Fund, a non-profit that provides financial assistance to kids who have been saving to BLACK’S LIVESTOCK -The Next Pasture - Where the grass is always green, lush & stirrup high Individual Horse & Pet Cremation Standard Mortality 24 hour service available John E. Black: 610.220.5262 Matthew Hoffman: 610.656.3258 Office: 610.584.4482 Fax: 610.584.9111 BLACK’S LIVESTOCK P.O. Box 662 Skippack, PA 19472 www.nextpasture.com buy a Chincoteague Pony foal. These days, he is starting Bandit, the Chincoteague Pony gelding he brought home that year. John serves as the president of his FFA chapter and is a member of Pinto Horse Association of America, The Foundation for Western Pro- fessionals, Boy Scouts of Ameri- ca, and the National Junior Honor Society. He also participates as a volunteer junior firefighter and serves as an annual spokesperson (Continued on page 26) Horses gave high school senior John Price, shown here with his Chincoteague Pony, Bandit, confidence and a direc- tion in life. After a good ride on an uncooperative horse, he won a regional IEA Sportsmanship award. He went on to win the national title and will use the scholarship in pursuit of a degree in equine business. Photo credit: Kathy Price