Saturday - American Saddlebred Horse Association

Jumping into Saddleseat
By Jessica Fisher
Saturday morning Theresa Scott will
show in the Kentucky State Fair Junior
Equitation Championship. More
remarkable than being her first show at
Louisville is that this is only her third
show—ever!
A devoted rider since she was four,
Scott had been a hunter/jumper up until
two years ago. In 2006 while visiting a
Morgan barn with a friend, Scott saw
her first Saddlebred and (dreamy sigh)
experienced love at first sight. “He was
so elegant. I had never seen anything so
beautiful,” says Scott. And as first loves
often do, Scott fell hard. It was official,
she was a Saddlebred girl!
In a mad rush to do and live anything
and everything Saddlebred, a
friend introduced her to Nealia
McCracken and Saddlebred Rescue. It
was there that she could ride for hours
on end with horses that both needed
and highly coveted the care and attention
that only a young ambitious rider,
such as Scott, could offer. She spent
every waking hour around the rescue
horses. “They really helped me get to
where I am. They teach you so much,”
says Scott.
At the 2008 Jersey Classic Horse
Show, Scott showed her first Saddlebred
CH Callaway’s Royal Request in the
Equitation Medallion class and was
reserve. She followed her success in
Jersey with a fifth place finish aboard
The King’s Talent at the Connecticut
Summer Classic. Scott considers
Connecticut to be a bigger win then
Jersey, even though she didn’t place as
high. “I was showing against 17 and 18-
year- olds. I was even showing against
my trainer’s daughter, Jessica
Moctezuma, so it was a bit intimidating,”
says Scott. Moctezuma has been a
role model to Scott over the years, and
is a rider who she not only looks up to,
but with whom she shares a common
love: Moctezuma’s former equitation
horse King’s Talent.
Scott is progressing as a rider steadily
and she is filled with excitement as she
looks ahead toward Saturday. “I just
want to be the best that I can be and the
rescue helps me with that, Nealia helps
me with that, and I have to give a big
thanks to Kate Aldinger, because without
her I would have never been introduced
to Saddlebreds.”
Scott, a Louisville “first timer,” is
confident with her transition from
hunter/jumper to show rider, and says
she is going to stick with Saddlebreds.
“It is amazing to see what these horses
do. The other horses I wasn’t as confident
with, and I wasn’t thinking about
my equitation as much, now it is always
on my mind. The more I watch the better
I get. The more I ride the better I
get.” And we’ll be watching, too, when
Scott enters the ring Saturday morning,
and aims for the Louisville Blue!
A DAY AT THE
WORLD’S
CHAMPIONSHIP
HORSE SHOW
Photo by Jen Corcoran
Samantha Johnson and Pure
Country won Class 184A Roadster
Pony Under Saddle Junior Exhibitor
Division II.
WCHS Results and Judges’ Cards | 2 | Saturday, August 23, 2008