Mary Grace Schmid, left, a junior at Notre Dame Prep and her sister, Theresa, a 2013 graduate of NDP, competed at the 2013 Michigan State 4-H Horse Show held at MSU last month.
They competed in separate age divisions: Theresa in the 16-to-19-year-old category and Mary Grace competed with the 13 to 15 year olds. There were 21 delegates from Oakland County, selected based on their performance in county horse shows.
The State 4-H Horse Show is an annual three-day event that brings together roughly 600 4-H-ers from many counties across Michigan. Members are selected by their county 4-H programs to participate in this event. Over the three-day show, which this year ran from Aug. 9 through Aug. 11, members competed in events that include English, dressage, western, trail, jumping and gymkhana.
Both Schmids did well at the competition with Theresa receiving a grand champion in dressage, which involves performance patterns based on cavalry training methods. She also earned a bronze in dressage test II and a silver medal in dressage test III as well as sixth place in the hunter hack (jumping) class.
Mary Grace received a fourth in her trail class (an obstacle course judged on the horse and rider's performance) and seventh in western horsemanship, which judges each rider's performance against other riders in the arena.
Theresa Schmid was one of Notre Dame Prep's valedictorians for the Class of 2013 and currently is attending New York University. She had been captain of NDP's equestrian team since 2011.
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