TAG, Math, and Marching Band
Closing out her Freshman year at Pine Creek, Claire Davis finds herself in a place of gratitude. In her first year she has found community in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program, has continued to pursue her love of math, as indicated by the comment, "I am a problem-solving BEAST!" and has also embraced something new: marching band.
Claire has been playing the flute for six years, but this year was the first time she'd ever marched in a band with one. In the course of learning the music and working on this year's show, Claire enjoyed getting to meet upperclassmen as well as working through a challenge as a team. "You come home complaining to your parents about the things that went wrong, but love it and keep going back! Then at the end of State you're crying with everyone else because it's over. It was so fun!"
IEA National Competition
Outside of school, Claire is part of the Forest Edge Farm Equestrian Team that recently competed in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association's (IEA) National Competition at the end of April! The way the English riding part of this competition is designed, participants show up to compete, draw the name of a horse out of a hat, and are responsible for getting a horse they've never ridden before to perform successfully. No two competitions are alike!
"Horses feed off human emotions," Claire said. "The IEA competition focuses on how fast you can make an immediate connection with the horse and then ride it to fit its needs." Taking into account what the horse she's riding likes and dislikes, talking to the horse, or even, on rare occasion, singing to the horse have proven to be successful tactics in competition.
Horseback riding has also allowed Claire to practice persevering through whatever unexpected circumstances might arise. "If the horse bites you, you get on and ride anyway," she said. "If the horse bucks you off, you get back on. No matter what happens, it's never the horse's fault. You keep going. You HAVE to work together!" Riders are allowed to receive feedback from coaches while competing, but only each time the rider circles the ring. Like other competition venues, it's also often loud in the arena which can make it hard to hear what the coach is saying. After an event is complete, Claire reviews film of the competition to gain further insight on improvements that could be made for the next one.
An additional preparation tactic for competition: learning from the experts! Claire is currently reading a book titled Judging Hunters and Equitation WTF? (Want The Facts?) written by IEA judges, Julie Winkel and Tricia Booker. When not reading to prep for competition, her favorite genre is fantasy, and Claire encourages anyone looking for a fun summer read to consider picking up any title from the Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers) series by Ridley Pearson.
Photography Credit
The featured photo in this article was taken by Winslow Photography LLC and purchased by the Davis family.
