Senior Emma Kate Thome competed in the Southern Hunter Jumper of Georgia (SHJG) finals during the weekend of November 2-3 at Chattahoochee Hills at Bockaert Farm in Fairburn where she was awarded the Pony medal.

Emma ompeted on her horse of three years, Bella Luna “Luna,” a Quarter Horse mare who stands at 14.2 hands and weighs 1,070 pounds. Emma said, “She is the most valuable thing I will ever own, both literally and figuratively.” She continued, “Having Luna as my own pony has really helped my riding because I don’t have to ask anyone if I can ride their horse, and I don’t have to wait for someone to ask me to ride their horse for them.”

Leading up to the SHJG finals, Emma said every horse show she previously competed in taught her something important that she was able to learn from. Additionally, Emma said she worked hard all season in both her lessons and on the days that she just rode on her own.

The work Emma put in during the season allowed her to be successful during her competitions throughout the season and qualified her to compete for the Pony medal. She said, “In order to qualify for the Pony medal, riders had to either win two blue ribbons in the class during the regular season or accumulate 20 points; you get 7 points for first, 6 for second, etc…”

She was awarded a big blue ribbon, a cooler or blanket for her horse, and her name is engraved in a trophy. Additionally, Emma gets to pass the award down to the next year’s winner at the 2014 SHJG finals.

Emma said, “My favorite part of finals are the festivities and the atmosphere that surrounds a big show like that. Everyone pulls out all the stops to give themselves and their horses and extra edge in competition and I just love that.”

Emma continued, “SHJG finals was also one of my last shows as a junior rider, and it was so rewarding to have everything my horse and I have worked so hard for come together at the perfect time.”

While the SHJG final was one of Emma’s last shows as a junior rider, she plans to continue and would love to ride in college either on a varsity and intercollegiate riding program and take Luna with her.