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About Me

My name is Margret Elizabeth Armstrong Wood. I was born in Richmond and have lived here my entire life. I currently have nine animals. They consist of four dogs, two cats, a turtle, and two horses. The horses have been recently acquired. In fact, last year I only had one horse until about the end of May.

My horses currently take up most of my time. In fact, over the summer I actually spent about eighty hour weeks being a working student with an equestrian trainer. I plan to become a working student in Germany, which is why I am taking German. Stadium show jumper is actually the second most popular sport in Germany. The Germans have most of the top riders in the world. Compared to them, the United States riders are terrible. My trainer, Belinda Lloyd, has worked as a groom over there and is teaching me how to hold my own with them.

Even though school has started up again, I still go out to the barn everyday. I spend about three hours each day out there. During my time out at the barn I ride at least one of my horses, groom both horses, clean my tack (riding equipment), and hose the horse(s) off.

Since school has started, Belinda is helping me out by riding my newer horse. The horse’s name is Priscilla. She is a Holsteiner mare. ‘Prissy’ is only about seven years old, and is a jumper. My other horse, Eli, is much older. He is about twenty-two (horses only live to be about thirty.) Eli is a Dutch Warmblood.

I have just started show jumping, and still sometimes compete in my old disciplines of hunt seat and equitation. Show jumping is held in the summer Olympics. Hunt seat, or hunters, is very popular in the United States, but is not internationally recognized. Hunt seat is based on how well a rider’s horse moves. Equitation on the other hand is very much based on the rider. Both disciplines involve jumping, but equitation courses are much more difficult for horse and rider.

Eventually I plan to do something with my riding, but I hope to obtain a sustainable job before then. Until then, I will perfect my riding until I am capable of becoming an international rider.