We recently had the pleasure of meeting with one of Boulder City’s wonderful younger residents, Miss Cadence West. Miss West is an accomplished equestrienne who competes with her traveling team, the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) chapter from Las Vegas. They finished in eighth place in national competition last season and soon requested that Miss West join their team for the upcoming season, to which she agreed. The team she competes with is the Las Vegas IEA Team A.
Miss West’s love for horses started at a young age. She took a few lessons down at the corral and was hooked! Soon she was joining Pony Club and her family decided to lease a horse for her to see if she would truly enjoy the sport. When it became clear that horses were her passion, they purchased a horse for her to use in her endeavors. Soon, two more joined their family herd.
Miss West, who is in seventh grade, will travel with her team to various locations around the country to earn the opportunity to compete in the Regional and National events of her sport. The IEA supports three disciplines: Hunt Seat, Western and Dressage. Miss West will be competing in the Hunt Seat and Dressage categories this season.
As part of her training, Miss West takes care of the family’s three horses, as well as horses they occasionally board. Horsemanship skills are very important as Miss West often rides other horses, as competition horses are provided at each venue. “Being involved with my horses has made me more responsible,” declared Miss West, which her mother also attested to. She eagerly completes her schoolwork, chores around the horse and barn, in order to earn more time with her horses.
She’s very enthusiastic about other young people joining the sport. Remarkably, you don’t need to own or lease a horse to participate. Students who participate must maintain good grades and acceptable behavior in their academic life to participate. Students have the opportunity to earn college scholarships through awards in competition and through sportsmanship activities.
Local volunteers are working to start a Pony Club branch at our local community corrals to introduce basic horsemanship skills and care to anyone interested. If English riding doesn’t appeal to the young person, there is always the Rodeo Team that is gearing up for the upcoming season. For more information about Pony Club, you may contact Chelsea West at (702) 277-1091 or via email HERE. For information about the High School Rodeo Team, contact team advisor Scott Pastore via Boulder City High School at (702) 799-8200.
We wish Cadence West the best as she competes this season and we encourage other young people in the community to become involved in equestrian activities!!
