OklahomaHorses Magazine September 2021

10 OklahomaHorses • September/October 2021 was really easy because she was happy to follow right along.” Lizzie, a gentle giant, is surprisingly athletic for her age and stature. She hasn’t finished growing yet but already knows how to carry herself easily and places her feet on the ground with precision. “She’s very talented with her body, but she’s also just brilliant in general,” Addi- son said. “She has the sweetest personality and really wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Before ever getting on Lizzie, Addison made sure she could do everything on the ground through the drive lines. That significantly helped the training process when things came to an unexpected halt this spring. “I got on her for the first time in Janu- ary, and my mom just led me around the pen,” Addison said. “But then my mom had surgery, so everything kind of got put on the back burner for a while.” It wasn’t until the end of May that Addison was riding Lizzie again. Because Addison didn’t have any other horses to show, she decided to take Lizzie in more than just the two-year-old class. At the district 4-H horse show, Lizzie had only 20 rides under her belt. Evidently that didn’t matter because the pair qualified for state in every class they entered: western pleasure, horsemanship, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equita- tion, and showmanship. State Bound There wasn’t much time between the dis- trict and state 4-H horse shows, so Lizzie and Addison added only a few rides to their résumé before heading to Chickasha for the state competition. “I was pretty nervous because I had never shown a baby at state before, and it was only her second show ever,” Addison said. “She was the same horse at state horse show as she was at home — noth- ing seemed to bother her.” The duo kicked off the show with a bang in hunter under saddle, in which they placed third out of 17 entries. This was a great confidence boost because Ad- dison and Lizzie had several more classes to tackle. Addison admits to being exceptionally nervous before the two-year-old class because her main goal of the whole show was to do well in it. “My mom has coached a bunch of kids STILLWATER 502 E. 6th Ave Stillwater, OK 74074 405-372-2766 DAVIS 205 South A St Davis, OK 73030 580-369-2354 CLAREMORE 721 W. 6th St. Claremore, OK 74017 918-341-0933 PERRY 205 Gene Taylor Perry, OK 73077 580-336-2168 For all of your fall and winter animal needs!