Horseback riding is certainly an athletic endeavor, but it’s not always understood by athletes in traditional field or team sports. Haley Ruffner struggles with this identity as she prepares for Nationals.
Haley finds new meaning in the concept of “riding like no one is watching” — not in performing in the show ring, but in riding her just-started two-year-old.
“He danced, whinnied, and tried to chew on his lead rope while the class looked on. I felt like a mom in Walmart whose child throws a temper tantrum while she’s trying to check out, apologetic and unable to really fix the problem in such close quarters.”
Haley Ruffner’s team hosted one of three intercollegiate Semi-Finals taking place last weekend across the country, and last week Haley was swamped both with show planning and preparing to compete herself. How did the show turn out?
From hunters to reiners, we all say “whoa”… but we all say it in different ways. Haley Ruffner details a few of the iterations of “whoa” she’s heard in her horse life.
