Canadian Nationals

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August 20, 2009

One Last, Big Show for Avery Lincoln

Avery Lincoln is not a neophyte. She has been riding with her coach and trainer Jessica Bein in the Scottsdale (Arizona) area since she was 9. She is a youthful veteran of many shows and three National Championships. "I started riding with Jessica because my cousin, Chie Morita, was riding with her," says now-18-year-old Lincoln. "I first rode in the Walk/Trot Hunter and Western Pleasure and then settled into Western. There was just so much more to do in that division for me. Jessica teaches you how to ride, not what to do. She taught me on a lot of different horses, and as I acquired my own Arabians and Half-Arabians, I learned what worked and what didn't with each horse I rode. I've been riding reiners since I was 11 or 12, but I think I really like the Trail best of all." Lincoln has been competing at Youth Nationals for six years and won the HA/AA Trail JTR 14-17 there with Im Destinees Hobby in 2008 and the Free Style Reining JTR 13 and Under with The Buck Stops Here in 2005.
This year is Lincoln's first trip to Canadian Nationals and her last big show for a while. She is 18 and heads to college at the University of California-Davis next month. On Monday, she won Halter Showmanship 14-17 Championship and has Trail, Sport Horse classes and Western Horsemanship JTR 14-17 (her self-declared "best hope") still ahead of her this week. "Every year; every show has its good days and its bad ones," Lincoln says. "This summer my trail horse decided he doesn't like bridges. Suddenly he's a 'pansy' at the bridge. So when we got here I made it a point to take him out and work on the bridge. Back and forth; back and forth we practice crossing the bridge hoping it works to keep him on track when the gate opens." Lincoln takes a moment to mention the great support her mom and dad and brother have given her during the past nine years. Then she pauses, thinking perhaps about the bridges she will cross over the next few years. In addition to the horses, Lincoln has studied ballet most of her young life. Her mother was a dancer and is a choreographer. She's also been very active in musical theatre at school and was a cast member in West Side Story, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Little Shop of Horrors.