Kalispell, Mont.—July 20

Each day at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships Area V young rider coach Will Faudree will ask his riders to put their cell phones in a basket.

In an age of seemingly constant distraction from social media and texting, Faudree wants his riders focused on their task this weekend at Rebecca Farm—riding to the best of their ability, and just maybe bringing home some hardware.

They’re well on their way to a podium spot, taking the lead after dressage in the CCI* on 140.0. The team was led by McKinsey Wickman and Dassett Profile, who scored a 43.1 to hold the individual lead. Area II’s Megan Loughnane and Linford are in second place on 45.0, while Wickman’s teammate Arden Stephens is in third with Ultra T on 45.1. Adriana Beruvides on Consensus and Kit Ferguson on Yoshi round out the Area V team.

McKinsey Wickman and Dassett Profile. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Area I (Sloane Pierpont on Indie, Erica Jarrell on Uni Sprite, William Jarrell on Grey Area and Natasha Knight on Harbour The Truth) are close behind on 146.4, while the team from Area III (Gigi Hogan on Samba Dromo, Ivie Cullen-Dean on Five-Star, Carson Richards on Sandhills Brillaire and Maddie McElduff on Loughnatousa Caislean) are in third on 150.1.

Although initially not popular, the team appreciated Faudree’s no phones rule in the end.

“What did George Orwell say in the book ‘1948’? ‘They’ll be too busy looking at their screens to notice what’s going on.’ I’m trying to make them talk to each other and talk about their ride,” said Faudree. “You’re not just here representing yourself. The single greatest honor an athlete has is to represent your country. In my young rider days I didn’t know if I was ever going to get to do that again. Everything you do is a result of you representing something else now—it’s not just about you. I’m trying to stress that so that we really put our game faces on and focus on each phase and producing our best results that we can produce on that day with the horse we have on that day.”

Wickman, 15, Prosper, Texas, is making her first appearance at NAJYRC. Dassett Profile, or “Pro,” is a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Crosstown Dancer—Edergole Ellen) that she bought nearly three years ago. He’d gone to training level with Lillian Heard, but since then, they’ve been learning together.

Megan Loughnane and Linford. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

“This has been a dream of mine for the past nine years. A year ago today we were still doing training level,” she said. “There’s been a lot of learning and ups and downs, but I’m really proud with where we are today and how hard we worked to get here. It means a lot to me.”

“I was extremely nervous, but overall I was happy with how we both dealt with the nerves,” she said of her dressage test. “He was super soft and supple, and just everything I asked of him he gave to me, which I’m extremely grateful for. I can’t be any more proud of my horse.”

When asked how she combats her nerves, Wickman said, “I try to think that even though I may be nervous, I have to put my nerves aside because my horse needs me to be at the most calm place I can be. For my team I needed to just stick it out. I know everyone will be happy no matter what happens.”

Wickman is hoping to take Area V’s “get it done” motto out on cross-country on Saturday.

“He loves to gallop. I think he loves to jump and knows what his job his and obviously loves his job,” she said. “It’s mainly just getting him out there and making him focused and making sure that he knows what he’s doing. Anything I ask of him he will do, it’s just my job to ask it correctly.”

Arden Stephens and Ultra T. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

For full results, click here.

Follow along with COTH this weekend at coth.com as we bring you all the news you need to know and tons of gorgeous photos from Rebecca Farm and the NAJYRC! We’ll have a full report in the August 7 print edition of the Chronicle.