Last month 17-year-old Hayley Watt excelled in two classes at the 2013 American Quarter Horse Congress in Ohio. Here she relives her experience and outlines future goals.
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And so it all comes down to three minutes. Three minutes for Hayley Watt to justify years of hard work, dedication and patience, years of confidence displayed by trainers, family and friends.
Astride her horse, Dimensional Mr., 17-year-old Hayley sees six judges. She knows one stumble, one false head movement, one tiny deviation from her pattern, will mean elimination from the 2013 American Quarter Horse Congress.
The announcer calls her into a giant ring similar to Edmonton’s Rexall Place, home of the Oilers.
“Number 1337 – Dimensional Mr., shown by Hayley Watt, owned by Hayley Watt, from Busby, Alberta, Canada …”
Somewhere in the crowd Hayley’s parents are watching nervously.
In between educating American spectators about the hamlet of Busby, they will their daughter to exceed her highest expectations.
They have seen the field narrow from 150 riders, to 30, 20 and now 10.
Just how far can Hayley go in the world’s largest single breed horse show? She blanks out everyone … everyone except Lindsay Soderberg, her trainer who is both her fiercest critic and one of her most fervent admirers.
With Soderberg in her head, urging her on, Hayley believes her three-minute pattern is almost faultless. All she can do is await the judges’ verdict.
When it comes she is stunned. So too her mum, Colleen Symyrozum-Watt, well known in the Barrhead area as Supt. of the Pembina Hills school division.
Hayley has come third in Novice Youth Hunt Seat Equitation, a class featuring riders aged 18 and under. She is also a National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA) “reserve champion.”
“It was so exciting,” said Hayley last week. “My mother was crying. Everyone was freaking out.”
Hayley, who attends R.F. Staples in Westlock, was probably the most composed among her family and well-wishers.
“I was actually more nervous the night before I showed. When I was in the ring I was thinking about every little thing I have to do. You just get in there and do it.”
Hayley’s success did not end there. She also came ninth out of 180 riders in Novice Youth Showmanship, which involved leading Dimensional Mr. around in a pattern. In the NSBA, she placed sixth.
It meant she had achieved her goals of top ten finishes in both classes, winning a jacket and handful of ribbons. Not bad for a local teenager in a show, which receives 17,000-plus entries and houses more than 8,500 registered American Quarter horses.
Making her achievement more remarkable was the fact that she had taught Dimensional Mr. – or Clarence, going by his barn name – everything required to compete. No wonder trainer Lindsay and the rest of Hayley’s team are so proud of her.
“I only got Clarence last year,” she said. “He’s six, which is really young for a horse. A lot of patience is required when working with a young horse.
“You have to repeat over and over before it clicks for him. Fortunately, Clarence is smart. He’s a quick learner.
“Lindsay raised him. She told me she wanted to keep him close to her because she knew he was going to be something good and he’s proved it. He’s certainly the best horse that I have ever had.”
Asked by her mother to describe what it is like being in the Coliseum arena, Hayley replied: “It’s a moment, mum. It’s a great moment.
“I’m looking at all these girls who are really good riders and my number keeps getting called back. It was amazing.”
It was Hayley’s second attempt at the show. The first time was in 2011 on another horse: Fame.
“The main difference this year was I wanted to meet those goals of making the top ten,” she said. “I wasn’t just going for the experience as before. Over the two years there has been a huge improvement.”
Hayley and her family went to the Congress in Columbus, Ohio, between Oct. 19 and 24.
The environment they encountered was not dissimilar to a giant funfair.
“There are people everywhere, there are golf-carts everywhere, there are food stands everywhere,” said Hayley. “You have to walk your horse through it all. It really is like a carnival.”
Amid such commotion, one would expect Clarence to be agitated. But Hayley said this wasn’t the case; he didn’t run behind her as is his habit when frightened.
“He’s a big baby, really, but I don’t think Clarence was nervous about the competition. He trusts me and I trust him to do his job.”
Hayley, who has been riding competitively since she was nine, said things got off to an inauspicious start when she arrived at Congress in time for a couple of days to practise.
“The first day was tough, stressful and cold. Nothing was going right. It was just an off day, and sometimes you get them.
“Typically, I would get to the Congress at 8 a.m. We would drive to the barn where the show was and it would be freezing cold. It was a slushy, humid cold. Then I would exercise Clarence by taking him on a hot walker, which is basically five horses on a merry-go-round.”
Hayley said the only time to practise her routines with Clarence was at night, when the arena was empty.
“We would go to bed, get up in middle of night to ride and practise in the arena,” she said.
“At Congress you are running on three or four hours sleep a night. Getting no sleep makes it even more stressful.”
Hard work is nothing new to Hayley. To reach the level required for Congress she has spent every available weekend in Red Deer practising with her trainer.
When she waited in the cold of the Coliseum last month for her name to be called, Hayley knew those sacrifices had been worth it.
Symyrozum-Watt said she could not be more proud of her daughter and the way she had conducted herself as an ambassador for the community.
“Hard work, focus, dedication and a gift have enabled her to ride at this level and achieve,” she said. “I am pleased and proud to have the opportunity to support her and open doors for her.
“Hayley regularly gets to do things most kids don’t get to do. She talks to top trainers in the world. In the US they are starting to know who Hayley Watt from Busby, Alberta, Canada is.”
Hayley is keen to point out that her success requires a team effort.
“I would like to thank Dimensional Mr., my trainer Lindsay Soderberg and her family, my parents, friends, the vet and the farrier. They have all been so supportive and believed in me when I doubted myself.”
Next year Hayley will be studying for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Alberta.
It means she will have to rein back on her horse riding … at least for a while.
“I can’t just stop showing horses,” she said. “Once I’ve done university, I’m not sure what I want to do, perhaps some type of engineering. I want to keep my hobby life of riding horses and work life separate.”
Hayley is determined to return to Congress one day.
“My next goal is to either win Congress or make top ten in Youth Worlds in August,” she said.
