 |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Sports
Bergay's dressage demeanor calms her 'drama queen'
By Sarah Trotto
Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.17.2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The horse changes gaits, going from a floating extended trot to a canter, as Holly Bergay makes no obvious movements with her legs and arms. She presses her legs against Lilly, an auburn-colored Hanoverian, to prompt changes in gait and direction. Bergay, 14, was born without a left hand and forearm, so she uses a special rein made with four loops that she can connect to her left arm to shorten and lengthen the rein. Though Lilly is temperamental, a "drama queen" Bergay says, Bergay's calm personality keeps the horse obedient. Mary Bergay said her daughter never loses her temper or yells, even when the horse misbehaves. Lilly will sometimes become frightened at shows, but Holly pats and kisses the 17-year-old horse to calm her. "Horses are thousand-pound animals," said Bergay, who is 5 feet 3 inches and about 100 pounds. "You're trying to get the horse to do everything you want it to do. It's all about perfection and precision." Bergay and fellow Tucsonans Laura DeCesari, 17, and Kathryn Cross, 20, are three of the four Arizonans representing Region 5 (Arizona and nearby states) at the North American Junior and Young Riders Championship later this month in Lexington, Va. Bergay is a freshman at Sabino High School, while DeCesari is a senior at Tanque Verde High School and Cross is a junior at the University of Arizona. All will compete in dressage, a discipline in which a trained horse responds to a rider's commands by performing the requested movement. "It's like the Olympics for junior riders," DeCesari said. "It's the biggest thing a junior rider can do." Cross, a Canyon del Oro High School graduate, competed at the event last year and enters the young riders class, ages 16 to 21. Cross will be competing with her 10-year-old Hanoverian, Weltee. She has trained him for three years for this event. DeCesari had her first horse at age 8. She will borrow a dressage-trained horse named Domino for the competition. "It's going to be really exciting to represent Arizona," she said. This is the first year that Bergay, who decided at age 8 to no longer wear a prosthetic, has qualified for the international event. A rider since she was 4, Bergay began riding her mom's horse, a gray Arabian named Ambition. The horse kept bucking off Mary Bergay, but he remained calm under Holly. "She was really tiny. Her legs didn't hit the middle of the saddle," Mary recalled. "They had a great rapport and won a lot." A love for riding was born. Bergay describes dressage as ballet on a horse, as the rider makes the horse perform different gaits. She has been practicing a freestyle routine that includes a Bolero for Lilly's canter, a tango for the walk and The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" for the trot. The five-day-a-week practices at Rancho Valle Milagro on the East Side are indicative of Bergay's discipline and focus. She says it never came to mind that she couldn't compete without a hand. Her other hobbies include snowboarding in Aspen, Colo., swimming and playing football with her brothers, who are 18 and 12. "A lot of people think they can't, but that's what I want to show," she said. "I want to inspire people that they can. They shouldn't limit themselves." Bergay isn't setting any boundaries at the competition, which will feature riders ages 14 to 21 from the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean islands. They will compete in the Olympic equestrian disciplines of show jumping, dressage and eventing, along with reining. Bergay said her goal is to win in dressage. "Since I've always competed with able-bodied people and I've always done consistently well, I don't feel like there's any reason I shouldn't be able to do well," she said. She's also aiming for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing and the Olympics someday. She is e-mail pen pals with Debbie McDonald, an Olympic dressage rider. "I can never tell her she can't do something with that arm," said Holly's coach, Pat Baker-Hutter. "It won't work. She'll go, 'Really? Yes I can. Yes I can.'"
|
|
|
|
