“Bueller?” No answer.
“Bueller?” Long pause.
“He’s sick. My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going out with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious,” says a girl in the class.
Now obviously missing school due to horse showing is not skipping school, which made the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off so popular. However, there are some similarities if proper steps are not taken. So, how can you efficiently and responsibly miss school to attend horse shows? The mothers of children who have found great success in both the show pen and at school offer their advice on this topic.
The Searles Family
Trainer Deanna Searles is the mother of a high school junior, Taylor, and an eight grader, Trent, who attend public school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Both Taylor and Trent have been extremely successful in the AQHA show pen with numerous top ten finishes at both the Youth World and Congress. Showing Al Be Sweet On You, Taylor earned a Reserve Youth World Championship in 2015 in Western Riding as well as a third place in Hunter Under Saddle aboard She Says Aloha. Her younger brother, Trent, has found great success in the halter pen with a seventh place finish at his first Youth World in 2015 with two-year-old mare, Cool To Get Roses.
For Searles, communication is the key factor when missing school due to showing. She informs teachers prior to their absences so Taylor and Trent can get as much of the work as possible before leaving for the show. Then, while at the show, they can work on their homework to prevent getting behind. Searles strongly feels that it is her children’s responsibility to make up the work, and she stresses strong study habits. Obviously, this is working as Taylor has a 4.0+ GPA.
Sometimes a teacher is not as understanding and will not give out assignments ahead of time. When this happens, Searles says they make the best of the situation and will have to spend some extra time when they get home making up the assignments. For Searles, “School comes first. If the grades start to slide, the horse showing comes to a stop.”
Searles also encourages getting involved with activities through the school. Both Taylor and Trent are involved with their school’s golf teams and have found success in that realm as well.
The biggest scare they have received was a letter from the school warning of excessive absences with potentially devastating consequences. Searles said she panicked and contacted the principal immediately and found out the letter was computer generated. Due to her prior communication with the school, the principal was aware of the situation and told her not to worry. Communication truly is key.
The Gower Family
Brenda Gower, of Alberta, Canada, has two sons, Cole and Kade, who compete on the national AQHA level. Cole, who is now 21, spent his last year in youth chasing his dream of earning a year-end AQHA High Point award in Trail. According to Gower, “We gained a lot of knowledge in dealing with missed school during this time as we were full-time travelers and competed from California to Virginia and everywhere in between.” Cole was successful in accomplishing his goal as he earned 2013 AQHA High Point in Youth Trail with She Made It Happen and Top 5 with Design By Leaguer. Gower’s younger son, Kade, is 14 and just beginning his show career.
For Gower, the most important piece of advice is organization: “I would mark down all the shows that we knew we would be attending. I would send notes to the schools or call and arrange an appointment to meet the teachers to discuss the kids being absent at least a week ahead of time, so that the teachers had lots of notice to prepare their assignments.”
Like Searles, Gower also stresses the importance of good study habits and says she makes sure her sons do their assignments at the show. It is easy to procrastinate after a long day at the horse show, so Gower suggests planning how much school work needs to be completed each night and sticking to that plan. For the Gower family, showing has even served as motivation for Kade in school. “He was ambitious in getting all his work completed so that we could go to the show,” Gower says.
Through effective communication, Cole’s and Kade’s teachers have been receptive to the idea of missing school to show horses. Gower states that she had to explain to some teachers that, “This is something that is important to each of our kids; it actually creates a lot more motivation for them to do well in their studies, so they have the opportunity to continue to do what they love.” Once again, that communication factor plays a key role.
The Anderson Family
Tara Anderson has been in the horse show business for a long time and trained horses until her daughter, Millie, was two years-old. For the last ten years, Anderson has been helping her daughter “have the experience and fun showing” that Anderson had as a youth. Millie has been showing since she was in lead line and last year was Reserve Congress Champion in the 11 & Under Western Pleasure with Perfect Chex. Recently, Millie has added halter to her repertoire and enjoys showing her yearling gelding, Just Acool Kid, and her weanling gelding, Comeangetyasumsugar.
Making sure that Mille gets a good education has always been a priority for Anderson. Presenting Millie’s show schedule to the teachers and administrators at the beginning of the school year makes the situation much easier. This way everyone involved can plan ahead.
Anderson suggests picking a school or program that best fits your goals. “Whether it be cyber or home school, private or public school, the system, curriculum, and teachers have to suit your needs,” Anderson says. “It takes a team effort to help your child succeed in school and in the show pen.”
A down-side to this is that sometimes Millie has to attend school when she is not feeling well, but Anderson says she works very hard and gets good grades. Learning to balance the busy schedule is not easy, but it certainly has its rewards.
The Cherry Family
Molly Cherry grew up showing quarter horses in California and was the 1989 AQHYA World Champion in reining with Parker Chex. Today, she is blessed to have a husband, Chad, and daughter, Gentry, who both enjoy showing horses in many events from hunter and English events to roping classes. Gentry is a two-time AQHYA World Champion (equitation over fences in 2013 and hunt seat equitation in 2014) with Imasgoodasitgets. In 2015, Gentry found success with a new all-around horse, Blue Sky Serenade, and received top ten placings at the Youth World.
According to Cherry, this has been an incredible lifestyle for the family, but “missing so much school is always a tough issue to work around.” To address this issue, Cherry strongly encourages communication, not only with teachers but school officials as well.
“When the schools are more aware of the importance and magnitude of our sport and that we do this as a lifestyle and part of our children’s life experiences, they are more helpful,” Cherry states. With advance notice of absences, Gentry can usually get assignments prior to leaving for a show, so she can complete them while on the road.
Cherry adds that the teachers and students at the school enjoy getting involved with Gentry’s accomplishments. “We’ve even had some of Gentry’s teachers and school friends come watch her at the Youth World.”
The existence of the NCAA Equestrian team has also been helpful in discussions with the school. According to Cherry, “We have explained to our teachers and school that this sport does carry on into college, and they tend to see it very differently after becoming more educated in what we do and that scholarships are offered and on the line.”
Once again, communicate with teachers in advance and let them see the whole picture, including future implications such as scholarships and job opportunities.
Balancing school and horse showing can be a challenge, especially in the public school setting where not everyone is familiar with the lifestyle demands. As a public school teacher, I appreciate communication from parents and students in order to encourage student involvement and success both in and out of the classroom.
To avoid that “Ferris Bueller” situation, it is imperative to communicate with everyone involved. Instilling good communication skills, effective time management, and strong study habits will help today’s school-age children become productive citizens in the future.
About the Author–Becky Wood showed in her first open horse show at the age of 6. She continued showing in open and 4-H horse shows until she began showing AQHA shows at 15. Since then, she has earned numerous top ten finishes at the AQHA World Show in Amateur and Senior Trail, including an Amateur Trail World Championship in 2005 aboard The Radical Doctor. More recently, she works full-time as an English teacher at Knob Noster High School in Missouri, where she teaches dual credit composition courses. Additionally, she is married to Brian, and they have a four-year-old son, Austin. She recently purchased Im The Best Cowboy, whom she began showing last fall.
