For Sophia Goetz, a 17-year-old from Windsor, Colo., the path to being in the saddle began at age six and took shape with her first lesson horse at nine. It was a green start which quickly turned into an all-consuming passion.
"They keep you honest," Goetz said of horses. "You can't fake your way through a run, and you can't force that kind of raw power."
Goetz's early years in the sport were shaped by a small, just-starting-out training program where she had the opportunity to ride privately owned reining horses before she was even old enough to own one herself. By 10, she was leasing a horse and competing in AQHA youth classes, capping that chapter with a year-end AQHA Reserve High Point Rider title.
From there, her coach built an Interscholastic Equestrian Association program, and Goetz has been a fixture in it ever since, a run that now stretches from fifth grade through her senior year. Much of that experience has come through catch-riding, competing in horsemanship, reining, and ranch riding, and qualifying for IEA Nationals five times, including at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, the venue that hosted this year's FEI World Cup™ Finals. Goetz moved into IEA's Open Varsity division as a sophomore.
Two years ago, Goetz purchased her first performance reining horse: Darlinneedsacocktail, also known affectionately as “Mickie,” a 2014 Paint mare (Wimpyneedsacocktail x Darlin Get The Gun), with plenty of talent and just as much personality. Paint reiners are hard to come by in Colorado, where the discipline skews heavily toward Quarter Horses, but Goetz and Mickie have carved out a niche competing at regional NRHA shows and in all-breed classes at AQHA events. Last year at the Columbine Classic, the pair posted the highest score of their partnership to date, a jump from 67 to 72, while winning the Youth Rookie and Youth 14-18 classes.
Behind the Three Minutes in the Pen
For Goetz, the value of USEF's Interscholastic Athlete Program has never been about the show pen alone.
"It shows what happens behind the scenes, too," she said. "Not just when you walk into the pen, but how much work goes into it."
Being recognized as a USEF varsity athlete, a designation her high school doesn't offer for equestrian sport, has given Goetz's daily grind a framework and a sense of legitimacy that other organizations don't provide, according to her mother, Amanda.
"No other program recognizes all those hours you have to put in to make that one ride come together," Amanda said. "It's all those behind-the-scenes things you have to work on."
That recognition has translated into real support at school. Absences for competitions are now excused as athletic activity rather than logged as personal time off, giving Goetz's teachers a clearer picture of what she's balancing. Her teachers regularly check in on her results and have asked to announce her achievements, like her recent trip to Nationals, to the rest of the athletic department.
Rebuilding a Partnership, One Wrap at a Time
Mickie's road to the show pen with Goetz wasn't a straight line. After Goetz leased and then purchased the mare, Mickie sustained a hematoma on her back leg, an injury that sidelined her for roughly six months, including three months of strict stall rest.
The rehab fell to Goetz. She would wrap Mickie’s legs before and after school as she was responsible for her treatment plan throughout the recovery. As Mickie healed, the pair worked back up slowly, from hand-walking to short trot sets, before beginning the long process of building the mare back into show condition; work Goetz continues today ahead of a planned return to competition in September.
Somewhere in that stretch of groundwork and patience, Goetz also taught Mickie how to “smile,” as a bit of mental enrichment to keep the mare engaged during her time off.
"Every time I get on her, it's always something new," Goetz said of her mare. "If you try to cut corners, or your mind isn't present, she'll remind you really quick where you're at."
Looking Ahead
With Mickie fully healed and back in form, this team is ready to compete at the highest level possible. Following graduation, Goetz aims to secure an internship or assistant position with a professional reining trainer to learn about the training and business aspects of the industry. Her long-term goal is to establish and run her own training/breeding facility one day.
Until then, the day-to-day hasn't changed much: showing up for Mickie, rain or shine, good days and hard ones alike.
"Horses are always there for you," Goetz said. "In a way, we need them just as much as they need us."
You don’t have to be a record-setting quarterback, point guard, or track star to letter in junior high or high school sports anymore. The US Equestrian Interscholastic Athlete Program is open to equestrian athletes who participate in any breed or discipline. To earn letters, athletes should be a subscriber or competing member of US Equestrian. Learn more here.