Emily Olson
Cedar City, UT
Family Life & Human Development
Leadership Engagement
Emily’s EDGE Horse Show
For my EDGE Project, I put on an open horse show. This is a fun schooling horse show for any age horse, and any age rider. It was held at the Iron County Fairgrounds in mid August. I offered a large variety of classes for all types of riders and horses. I had a good amount of competitors and they all won ribbons and great prizes. Everyone told me they all had a really good time, and strongly encouraged me to put on another one next year!
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I’ve been showing in local horse shows for the last 15 years. I have also been on the board of a local horse club called Color Country Equestrian Club for the past 4 years. I have learned a lot about the industry, and what it actually takes to put on a show. I decided I wanted to try my hand at it, and see how well I would do. I also wanted to provide a good show in late summer for people, because that’s typically when the least amount of shows are happening, but people still want to practice.
Overall, I feel like my project ran pretty smooth, but of course there were some bumps in the road. I think the most frustrating thing for me was not getting as big of a turn out as I wanted. It was a pretty good sized show, but I ended up having to cancel a few classes because there just wasn’t a enough entries in it. The weather was also a huge struggle. It was actually pretty perfect for most of the day. It was quite warm in the morning, but then some big clouds rolled in and gave us lots of good shade. But then at about four o’clock, when we were on our second to last class of the day, the wind started to pick up, and it started to rain. We ended up having to cancel the last class because of the weather, which was really disappointing.
I feel like my project really benefited all of the people who came and competed. This show was a really affordable one, so anyone could come show without breaking the bank. It was really good practice for everyone to show in classes with good competition in an arena that most people hadn’t been to before. I gave away some awesome prizes and ribbons, which is super rewarding. Lastly, everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, and I think that is one of the most important parts.
My project really taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of. It was a really long day that started at 5am and didn’t end until 6pm that night. I was running around like crazy, and on my feet all day, but I still managed to keep my energy up throughout the entire show. I also learned to be able to accept the things I cannot control, and kind of go with the flow. I learned that I like being the boss and telling people what to do, and I can even do this well under high-stress situations. Most importantly though, I learned how much I love working in this industry, and how I want to continue to do it in the future.
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“I got really good feedback from my show and I may even consider doing it again next year since everyone seemed to have a good time, and I had fun and learned a lot.”
"The people I worked with at the Parowan Fairgrounds were awesome in making sure the grounds were looking good and ready to go.”
