Dominick Hernadez Garcia, a sophomore at Kennedy, has been an athlete all her life, but she has dedicated herself to competitive horseback riding for almost four years now.
The organization where Hernandez competes is called the California Rangers, a military-styled program that has ranks that riders can advance to. The competitions are held three times a year, and the judges base their scoring on presentability: how well you perform on the horse, if you struggle with an out-of-control horse, how your feet are planted on the irons, how your posture looks, and more.
Hernandez describes the horseback riding she does as very similar to ROTC but testing out things with horses.
Jennifer Stankiewicz, a science teacher and Teaching Academy lead at Kennedy, has also participated in competitive horseback riding starting at age 16. Since then, she has competed in a variety of types of events unlike Hernandez, who has participated in just one.
Stankiewicz has competed in Fox Hunting, Polo, Race Tracking, Three-Day Eventing; including Dressage, Cross Country, and Stadium. She was briefly part of the equestrian team at Otterbein University. Her current focus is on a horse she has been training and working with for about three years, but they are not yet ready to compete in events.
Similarly to Hernandez, the current competitions Stankiewicz takes part in are judged on the harmony between the horse and its rider, the partnership rather than submission between the rider and the horse, and the position of riding. In addition to these, the suppleness of the horse, how smooth the transitions are from one movement to the next, and the effortlessness of the horse’s rider are judged in Stankiewicz’s competitions. For these there are about 15-30 movements a rider will memorize and perform, each being out of 10. The final score will be out of 100%, with scores in the 70s being good. Olympic-leveled athletes will typically score above the mid-80s.
In the organization Hernandez is part of, The California Rangers, beginning riders start at Remount, where they learn the basic military sciences and horsemanship skills applicable to California Rangers. From there, riders will move up a scale of rankings to Trooper, TFC, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Stable Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant, and finally Cadet Commander (the next set of ranks). In Hernandez’s most recent show, she was promoted to Trooper First Class, which is the third rank from bottom.
Compared to other riders, Hernandez is rather advanced for the amount of time she has participated. Usually new riders will spend up to two years in the first ranking, and by the time they are done with their four years, they will likely be at the Trooper ranking, which is the second from the bottom rank.
Her favorite competition was her most recent one. The day had started out hectically. Since it was a big competition, she had to leave early. At around 5:00 AM she and her family got in an accident on the way. It was impactful, but not to the point where she couldn’t compete. She had an option to not perform that day because of the circumstances, but that did not stop Hernandez from competing. That day she won 1st Place in all five of her equitation classes; High-Low, TFC Equitation Class, Class of Fours twice, and Show.
“People assume I do jumping or western,” Hernandez said.
While horseback riding may seem fun, like many sports, participants are prone to several injuries. Hernandez recalls multiple times where she has fallen off the horse. While she hasn’t broken any bones, she has dislocated her hip and her ribs opened up a bit. But there hasn’t been a single instance that has made her deny her love for horses and participation in the sport.
Stankiewicz has received a fair number of horse-caused injuries over the years. There have been times when the horses knocked her over and she was stomped on her rib and kidney, bit her arm and leg, kicked her away, kicked her in the buttocks, and turned her into a “lawn dart.” The current horse she is working with had thrown her off, she described, similar to how one would throw a lawn dart.
Hernandez began competitively swimming at age seven, and started competitively horseback riding at the age of thirteen. One major reason for starting was because horseback riding is the closest thing she has to one aspect of her Mexican heritage, ganadería, meaning animal husbandry in English, where animals are cultivated and produced for human consumption, such as food, clothing, and other utility.
“It’s where I go to find peace of mind, and to not be around humans,” said Stankiewicz.
Stankiewicz began horseback riding because of her childhood-long obsession with horses, starting when she was a four-year-old girl in Ohio and her grandad had bought a pony. She wanted to ride horses ever since then.
Just like swimming, Hernandez competes in horseback riding with her younger sister, Ximena. They have been doing both sports for the same amount of time, and they progress and grow in both sports together.
She says that doing two sports with her sister can have its ups and definitely has its downs. Their sister relationship is another factor of motivation for Hernandez.
“We started together, and I plan on finishing together as close as we can,” Hernandez said.
She says that it is nice to know that she doesn’t have to worry about herself or her sister since they both keep each other in check through a stare-down system. Both sisters are able to look at the other, point out what’s wrong, and correct themselves if needed.