Kacie Babbit is a senior at Nashoba, and she has been horseback ridding for almost her entire life. Two years ago she started going to a new barn, where she began competing on the Hillside equestrian team. 

Babbit participated in a competition on Sunday, March 25th. She competed against other equestrians from 6th through 12th grade. In the competition they rode against one another on horses they have never ridden before; the competition was organized by the IEA. The IEA stands for Interscholastic Equestrian association and it is all about team work. According to Babbit, in this competition “it is luck of the draw to win”. Riders spend a long time getting used to their houses and training them in their style; they make a bond with them. Riding a new horse that a competitor has never ridden before is risky as the riders don’t know the horse well enough to know how the horse will react in certain situations.

Kacie told the Chieftain Press, “I felt very excited,” she said “I knew that this was a huge opportunity for me. I had a general idea that I was getting this award, but I did not know that it was for sportsmanship, I thought it was going to be something else. The whole reason that I got this award was because of the fantastic horse family I have behind me, as well as my real family, supporting me through this sport, pushing me to be the best rider I could be, while maintaining humility.” 

Babbit was chosen out of 13,500 other New England members of the Interscholastic Equestrian Association for the Sportsmanship award. The Interscholastic Equestrian Association is all about teamwork; a much needed component to make it through to nationals. Congratulations to Kacie  Babbit on this award.