COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
It's a tale of two Kings. Born 25 years apart,
while I'm usually reporting headlines the other Mary King has been making them
for years.
In the midst of the 30th Olympic Games, I learned that
this marked the fifth Olympic appearance for Great Britain's Mary King. I also
learned that she's been dominating the equestrian stage since her competition
days began in the late 1980's.
In light of securing this year's silver medal in the Team Eventing
competition, I met with assistant coach of the University of South Carolina
Equestrian team, Carol Gwin, to learn more about the ‘other Mary King' and to
go inside the sport.
"It was definitely not any sort of luck, said Gwin as we spoke
about King's win. "It was a great deal of skill for her to get the silver
medal."
This is King's third Olympic medal and she has countless of other
championships under her belt.
"She is a three-day eventer," said Gwin. "Our USC equestrian team
does more of an equitation, Mary is judged a little less on a style and a
little more on what she has to do."
Gwin explained how eventing encompasses three types of riding:
dressage, show-jumping, and cross-country.
So, how long would it take me to
garner skills like Mary King?
"You're probably looking at about 10 to 15 years," said Gwin.
"These people who are in the Olympics have taken hundreds of thousands of
riding lessons."
But since I only had about an hour to go inside the sport…
"The first thing you've got to do when you're learning how to ride
is you have to be safe," said Gwin handing me a riding helmet and checking my
attire (including my borrowed cowboy boots.)
She also said we would need a horse that could handle a beginner
and introduced me to ‘Reggie,' an 1,100 pound Paint bread with a sweet
temperament.
"Basically you need to learn some basic skills of how to not only
care for the horse and get it ready for the ride, but also how to steer them
control them and how to find your balance on a moving animal," said Gwin.
We brushed Reggie, cleaned his hooves, sprayed him with bug spray,
and got him all geared up.
"What we're doing today would probably take someone 5 to 10
lessons to master just to be able to do all of this," said Gwin.
It was clear to me that with all of the little details, most
equestrians have to have a lot of patience and a lot of heart.
Once we were ready to ride, we walked ‘Reggie' to the ring, and I
reminded Gwin that I'd only been on a horse once.
When I asked her what the chances were of falling off, she said, "With me—very, very minimal."
Feeling reassured, she showed me the proper way to get on
‘Reggie.' To see how that and the rest of my experience worked out, well,
you'll have to watch the video!
But as we rode, I gained a deeper and deeper appreciation for Mary
King and the sport. Gwin also hit on key differences between my trial
experience and the experience of Olympic riders. "This is what you'd call your
first horse to learn how to ride on," said Gwin. "The type of horse that
Mary King rode during the eventing would probably not be tolerant for this
because it's going to have a lot more athletic ability, spirit, and energy than
this horse."
What I can say, however, is that during my time at Onewood Farm I
gained a new appreciation for the sport of equestrian and for a woman who has
been making waves across the pond for many years.
I am more than honored to share a name with Mary King, because
she's truly a King who has mastered her craft.
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