St. Charles teen reaches new heights in competitive equestrian sport

St. Charles North High School student athlete Alyssa Watanapongse is competing at the national level, but not on a North Stars team.

Watanapongse, 16, is a Saddle Seat Equestrian, and was invited by the U.S. Saddle Seat Association to be part of their National Young Rider program. In July, she earned a silver medal competing against national youth teams from the U.S. and Canada in the four-day International Saddle Seat Invitational in New Orleans.

After their performance in July, Watanapongse and her team have been asked to represent the U.S. (ages 14-20) at the World Cup Invitational event in South Africa this December. She has applied and is hoping to be selected for the U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup team, which will return to South Africa to compete in December 2024.

Watanapongse rode her first horse at age 5 and was competing by age 8. Now she has her sights set on a triple crown.

The Watanapongse family moved to St. Charles when Alyssa was 5 years old. She remembers being driven past the Seven Oaks Farm on her way to school, where she would eventually convince her parents to take her to ride a horse for the first time.

Watanapongse said she started competing before she owned her own horse, riding borrowed horses in academy showings. She got her first horse, Tahlia, a few yours later and today owns four horses that she trains and competes with.

She now keeps her horses at Meadow Brook Stables in Maple Park, where she trains almost every day. Watanapongse said the horses are like athletes with their own training regiment. She rides each of her four horses at least once a week and they work with trainers on the other days.

Watanapongse said saddle seat is a type of english riding. It is an uncommon discipline, similar to dressage, that showcases American Saddlebred horses’ abilities to display different gaits. She specializes in saddle seat equitation, a riding style she said focuses on the rider’s posture and how effectively the rider communicates with the horse.

Watanapongse said the triple crown is the pinnacle of equitation. Similar to the triple crown in horse racing, the saddle seat triple crown is earned by placing first in three major events in one season; the USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, the UPHA Challenge Cup and the Good Hands National Championship.

This year, Watanapongse has qualified for all three triple crown events. She has previously competed in the triple crown events in a younger age category but is hoping to bring home gold medals in this year’s age 14-17 events.

Also among the highest honors in saddle seat riding is the saddle seat world cup, which happens every other year. In 2024, it will be held in South Africa, and Watanapongse is hoping to secure an invitation.

President of the U.S. Saddle Seat Association Barbe Smith has been watching Watanapongse show horses for five years and described her as a lovely kid with a great work ethic.

Smith said winning a triple crown and competing in the world cup takes a lot of practice and hard work, and that is exactly what Watanapongse has been doing.

“She’s always smiling and working hard,” Smith said. “She absolutely has what it takes to compete for a triple crown.”

Amid her busy training regiment and weekend competitions, Watanapongse manages to keep a GPA of over 5.0 at St. Charles North High School.