She's only 12, but Sophie Musser is riding high in the equestrian world

In almost every instance, if you’re smart, have a little talent and work hard, you’re going to enjoy success. Certainly, the sport of equestrian is no exception.

The only difference with equestrian is this subliminal connection, this intuitive feeling that exists between rider and equine.

Just 12 years of age, Sophie Musser knows a few things about equestrian and hard work and sensing a horse’s demeanor.

On April 27-30 at the International Equestrian Association national finals in Tryon, North Carolina, Musser, a sixth grader at Cedar Crest Middle School, won her Future Beginner Dressage Seat Equitation Class. Following a successful regular season that began in September of 2022, Musser qualified for nationals by finishing first at a regional event in Bergen, New Jersey on March 21.

“I went into it really nervous because there were some really good riders there,” Musser said. “I remember saying to my one friend, ‘I’m nervous. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this.’ I practiced all year for it, and I went to all these shows where I didn’t know the horses, so it was like pretty normal. They warmed the horses up and you got to watch them and see how they were.”

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What sets the sport of equestrian apart from others is that it’s a competition judged by specific criteria, built around how a rider handles his or her mount. At the International Equestrian Association national finals, Musser rode Bella, a horse she had never met before.

“You can feel when you’re on top of a horse if it has tension,” Musser said. “It’s probably a little nervous. Sometimes it’s anxious. When horses are mad, they put their ears back and they’re like, ‘get away from me, I don’t like it.’ But you can really tell a horse is happy when you’re riding them.”

Musser has been ranked fifth in her classification in the United States Equestrian Association. Typically, she practices and trains about six days a week.

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“Equestrian is like you’re on a horse and you have a really good bond with them, and you’re competing,” said Musser. “It’s not like competitive racing, it’s more in an elegance way. People think equestrian is like a cowboy movie, but it’s much more than that.”

While she qualified for the IEA national finals as an individual, Musser is also affiliated with a Linden Hall equestrian team based in Lititz. Musser said that her favorite part about competing in equestrian are the social aspects associated with it and the friends she has made along the way.

“You have to have a lot of coordination,” Musser said. “It’s very competitive, but some people think of it as not competitive. Some of the challenging stuff is more mental than physical because you’re being compared to other people. When you start doing bigger competitions, it gets harder. It’s really a mental thing.”

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Musser began riding when she was three. Musser’s mom, Amanda Musser, said that Sophie took to being on the back of a horse immediately.

“She’s always loved animals,” said Amanda Musser. “They had pony rides at the (Lebanon Area) fair and when we put her on, she looked very comfortable. We live near the Quentin Riding Club, and we got riding lessons for her for her third birthday. She absolutely loved it. She took to it right away.

“She was a natural,” Musser continued. “It became a regular thing for us, and it never stopped.”

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Cedar Crest Middle Schooler racking up equestrian titles