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Kelowna  

Riding to national spotlight

This isn't any pony ride for two Kelowna sisters who have turned their passion for horses into an extremely competitive gig.

Halle Gainey, 14, and Bria Gainey, 16, are blazing the trail for local riders as they head to Toronto next month to compete in the nationals at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

The sisters are competitive junior equitation riders who now have the distinction of being two of only a handful of Okanagan representatives to compete at this prestigious event.

“We are the first sisters from the Okanagan competing in the same event at The Royal,” explained Bria.

The girls started riding together when they were four and six years old and immediately fell in love with the sport – now spending six to seven days a week at the barn.

“We started riding at Avery Riding Stables and it took off from there,” said Bria. “We really enjoyed spending time with the animals and working with the animals and getting to care for them.”

After competing all this summer, both girls managed to reach their ultimate goal of competing at the Royal.

Halle has qualified for the CET medal final and the Jump Canada medal final, while Bria has qualified for both the Jump Canada medal final and the 3’6 Large Junior Hunters.

“The sport of equestrian is truly unique in that it requires teamwork between the horse and the rider. In addition to strength and skill, we must have complete trust and confidence in our horse to be successful,” explained the sisters.

Their mom Tera Gainey told Castanet her daughters have been working towards this goal for the past 10 years, criss-crossing Canada and the United States to train and compete, all the while attending eSchoolBC and competing in track and field for Okanagan Mission Secondary School at the provincial level.

“Halle and Bria have somehow managed to juggle traveling every two weeks to Langley for their equestrian training as well as the demands of school and maintaining a 4.0 GPA,” wrote Tera.

The sisters are now in Calgary for the Western Championships, before heading to Toronto for the national competition Dec. 1.

“We are both feeling really excited, it will be really cool experience,” said Bria.

All the riders that qualify for nationals must pay their own way including the haul of the horses and equipment.

A GoFundMe fundraiser for the Gainey sisters has already brought in more than $5,500.



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