Before she steps into the ring, Lynchburg College’s Christina Atonucci stands off to the side, frantically polishing her boots so they have the perfect shine.
Sweet Briar senior Makayla Benjamin puts headphones on, drowning out the noise around her, coming from fans and other horses and riders making their way around the ring.
Kirby Tidmore, dressed in her lucky show clothes she wears at every competition, prefers to zone out completely, allaying the nerves by sleeping before she mounts her horse.
Before their coach charges them with the task to “go be beautiful” and gives them a fist bump, Tidmore’s Randolph teammates Abby Carpenter and Caroline Houston also do their best to prepare for the competition that awaits.
The riders each have their trusted routines that have helped them to successful rides during the ODAC’s regular season and at the bigger regional and zone shows.
Those routines will be put to the test Thursday and Friday, in a new setting for most of the five riders: the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship.
Thanks to their performances throughout the season and at regionals and zones, four of the five riders — Tidmore, Carpenter, Houston and Benjamin — will make their IHSA National Championship debut, all in different events.
“Knowing that for the past three years I haven’t made it this far, … I’m very happy,” Benjamin said. “… [Qualifying] kind of reignites the fire and competition inside you, because you’re like, ‘OK, now I’ve got to work even harder because these riders are the top in the nation.’”
Antonucci, the LC standout senior, meanwhile, is a seasoned vet at the event. She’s making her third trip to nationals, this time competing in both the Open Fences and Open Flat disciplines.
The Randolph riders span multiple levels in the disciplines they’ll compete in at nationals, held this year in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Sophomores Tidmore and Houston will compete in the Novice Flat and Novice Fences disciplines, respectively, a step below the Open level.
After having started riding when she got to Randolph, Carpenter, a junior, will compete a step below Novice in the Walk-Trot.
And thanks to points she racked up throughout the season, along with her performances at regionals and zones, Benjamin qualified to compete in the Cacchione Cup, the distinction for the best overall riders determined by showing in both the flat and fences.
Three of the five will compete throughout the day Thursday, while Carpenter and Benjamin will compete Friday.
Benjamin and the others all acknowledged their sport, while not widely known, is one they’re supposed to make “look easy.” In reality, though, it takes hours of learning the strengths and tendencies of the horses — referred to by the riders as “teammates” — and perfecting their own skills. They have to learn the right signals for communication, and timing is everything when they enter the ring for judging.
“We put in so much time and so much work,” Tidmore said. “It’s a very big part of our lives.”
When it comes to the national competition, though, in which the five will compete against dozens of the nation’s best riders, anything can happen, Benjamin explained.
“Riding is such a humbling sport. You can be No. 1, and in the next round be in the dirt, because you don’t get along with the horse,” she said. “… You never know what can happen and what your competitors are going to do.”
The five area riders have prepared by practicing multiple days per week and hours on end, but at nationals, riders are assigned a horse randomly through a drawing. After watching the horses practice before competition begins, the riders can see the horses’ tendencies and adjust once they’re actually paired, but they have to prepare for anything.
“Mentally … I just know that I have to be able to give the horse that I’m mounted on, that I find out that day, the best shot that I can,” Benjamin said. “… As soon as you voice the opinion or let it come across your mind that, ‘Ooh, that horse is not my ride,’ you’re gonna get that horse. I’ve learned to just [tell myself], ‘You have gotten on any horse and learned to ride it, and you’re going to get on whatever they give you and ride it to the best of your ability.’”
Each of the five has said she approaches shows differently. For one it’s about muscle memory and a relaxed ride while another is dogged about keeping a beat running through her mind to accompany the strides she and her horse will take, for example.
Some admittedly are nervous while others, like Antonucci, Benjamin and Carpenter, look at the trip to nationals as a privilege to be enjoyed.
But they all hope to gain valuable experience. And winning, of course, would top off the trip.
“It’s an achievement making it to nationals, I’d say,” Houston said. “Placing or making it in the top 10 would be incredible, I’m sure. But I wanna win.”
Tidmore agreed. Put simply: “I wanna win.”