Egan brings home trophy No. 6 from nationals

Every July, the top Arabian and Half Arabian horses and youth riders in the nation gather to compete at Arabian Youth and Mid-Summer Nationals to find out who is the best in the country. The 2021 event again took place in Oklahoma City, with more than 1,400 horses competing over 10 days in multiple disciplines.

This year, Ryley Egan of Walnut again competed and found herself bringing home some familiar hardware. In her sixth year of competing at Youth Nationals, she brought home her sixth Reserve National Championship.

Ryley and her half-Arabian mare Breakaway LOA (Elly) previously earned Reserve National Champion honors in 2017 10 and under English, 2018 13 and under English, 2018 Select Junior Rider English, 2019 13 and under English and 2020 13 and under English. This impressive run gave Egan the opportunity to show additional horses during the 2021 season, and the confidence to focus on returning to competing in Equitation instead of just pleasure classes. While pleasure classes reward rider and horse pair who best showcase the horses ability, Equitation rewards the horse and rider pair who together can complete more complicated patterns while the rider exhibits exceptional form. In her first year back in competing in Equitation, her hard work was rewarded with Reserve National Champion honors in the Half-Arabian 14 and Under Saddle Seat Equitation riding Rohara Marc My Word (Roo), owned by Emily Bates of Wellman, Iowa.

Egan always loved Equitation, but took several years off, focusing on working with Elly to complete at the highest level they could. When 2021 began, she set a goal of competing in Equitation and earning at Top 10 at Youth Nationals. She put in a lot of work, but also had a lot of help along the way.

During the early part of year, Egan worked with a saddlebred trainer in Minooka to improve her riding posture and form. In March, Elise Strand returned to working alongside Ryan Strand at Liberty Meadows Training Center in Bucyrus, Kan., and Egan took full advantage of her return. Elise had also taken a break from teaching equitation, so it seemed their timing was perfect for each other. Ryley and Elise got straight to work, with Ryan looking through the barn for the perfect horse to match with the rider. Emily Bates was extremely helpful in letting Ryan pair Ryley with her wonderful gelding Roo, the only problem was Roo had never before completed a pattern in an Equitation class. Ryley, Ryan, Elise and Roo spent the entire spring and summer getting to know each other and competing with the goal of constant improvement. The result was the pairing of Ryley and Roo hitting the arena in Oklahoma City at the top of their game and being rewarded with Reserve National Champion honors.