David O’Connor and Alexa Thompson stepped in to lead the Junior/Young Rider session when Tamie Smith was unable to attend due to personal reasons. O’Connor has been integral to the development of the current young rider program that involves the pipeline of regional camps to national camps in the U21 program. The YR program is, at its core, an educational program aimed at creating well-rounded horsemen on and off the horse. Thompson is an A Pony Club graduate and YR program graduate, and shared her experience on YR teams that shaped her into the rider and trainer she is today. 

Our junior and young riders were told “You are the next.” In essence, they are to look for what’s next, learn about what’s next, so they can be the next top riders in our country. O’Connor encouraged riders to always add new tools to their toolbox of training tools. Thompson expressed that riders should focus on on what’s next and do it for the love of the horse. 

While the Jr/Yr program is an excellent program for training the next generation of top athletes, O’Connor and Thompson had advice for all of our juniors. Thompson explained how she made it through college while riding and training, noting how she scheduled her day down to the minute and was never afraid to ask for help from those who knew more than her. O’Connor encouraged riders to be interested in other activities beyond horses and enjoy high school, as it is a fleeting time in life. Both panelists expressed hope in our next generation of riders to be even better than the ones before.