North American Young Riders Championships teach competition and camaraderie

I remember the first time I heard about the NAYRC, I was a young event rider, who had two good friends just moving up to the intermediate level. Hearing about itÑthis FEI level team competition designed for riders 16 to 21 (this age range has changed slightly since then)Ñwas to immediately want to be a part of it. Our area (for eventers the country is divided in to 10 areas) created a comprehensive programs for young ridersÑnot just for the kids who were going to be on the team, but for the up and comers who may be on the team someday. I never made it to the NAYRC, but I was a member of the program for many years, and did compete in a team young riders competition for the western states, and the lessons learned in the program have stayed with me ever since.

One of the best things about the NAYRC is that it brings the three Olympic FEI disciplines--eventing, show jumping, and dressageÑtogether in one competition. This allows horse-crazy kids who, in this current climate of separatism among the sports, might never have met, get together and find the great commonalities in our world of horses.

It also allows young people to get a taste of what international team competition entailsÑand it must be an experience that sticks: many top international and Olympic riders got their start at the NAYRC including Olympic silver medallists Greg Best and Karen O'Connor, as well as Megan Johnstone, Lauren Hough, Elise Haas, Buck Davidson, Abigail Lufkin, Alison Firestone, Chris Kappler, Nicole Shahinian Simpson, Ray Texel, Chris Pratt, Lisa Carlsen Lubitz, Kathleen Raine, Heather Mason, David Wilson, Tiffani Loudon, Mara DePuy, and Julie Gomena.

But the NAYRC is about more than just results. It's about horse kids coming together and learning a little something from each other. It's about the inherent silliness of young people as embodied in the famous golf cart paradeÑwhere teams kidnap various competition officials and dress them up in crazy costumes and make them parade around (you haven't lived until you've seen a top male FEI judge dressed up as a hula girl). It's about fun, learning, and the start of a career.

This year Horsecity.com will be bringing you daily coverage of the festivities and competition in all three sports at the NAYRC. Rather than trying to offer plain results-type coverage, these will be more diary entries, to bring you at home to Illinois with me. Be sure to check in and see what fun the kids are up to.