When you think of traditional high school sports, one of the hardest parts is pushing your body to elite levels. Now imagine doing the same thing, but not by manipulating your own body, but that of a huge animal.
Two Bellwood Antis sisters have been doing that at a high level for several years now.
Kinley and Bailey Thompson partake in horseback riding outside of school. They have 4 horses: Gunner, Bubbles, Dixie, and her new horse Athena. Bailey and Kinley both compete with their horses in local shows and some far away in Harrisburg and West Virginia.
Bailey is an eighth grader in the middle school, while Kinley is a second grade student at Myers Elementary.
For Bailey, her love of horses is something that began when she was young and her parents would take her to fairs in the summer time,
“I just liked horses when I saw them at fairs and thought they were cool,” she said.
Bailey is coached by Chris Doyle. The kind of horseback riding the girls do is called Gaming, which is a discipline of competitive equestrian sports that includes three discipline: dressage, show jumping, and eventing. Some of the familiar activities she completes are things like barrel racing and pole bending.
“I enjoy her horseback riding and competing, but I am very competitive,” Bailey said.
Recently, Bailey won a state championship at Harrisburg in October with her horse Dixie.
“Local shows are fun shows,” she said.
She has been riding for almost 4 1/2 years and competing for 3 years.
Kinley, on the other hand, has been riding since she was also 4 years old, so it is Kinley’s third year.
The sport of horseback riding wasn’t an automatic fit for the girls. In fact, when their parents were little, they only rode once or twice. Their mother always liked horses but was never fully able to dive into equestrian sports.
Bailey and their mom trained her horse, Bubbles. Bailey started doing pony camp when she was 7 or 8 years old.
Kinley has also been competing and she and her sister will be in the same age category for one more year, until Bailey moves up to senior.
Kinley, who most commonly rides her tiny pony Bubbles, said she loves horseback riding.
“When I trot on my pony, it’s really fun,” said Kinley.
Kinley will also be starting to ride Dixie this year since she is growing. She likes horseback riding with her sister and credits her for helping her develop as an equestrian.
“When I was little, I used to watch her,” Kinley said. “I’m really happy that my sister helped me.”
