Eastwood senior Brianna Patterson says when she hooked up with her 12-year-old quarter horse Karma, she had found her true calling in equestrian competition.

“I started off doing English when I was a kid, just lessons, then I got my own horse and we got into 4-H, and then I just found I loved the speed, the adrenaline with the speed, and I got this horse and she’s been amazing,” Patterson said. “We have clicked so fast and it’s just been great.”

Patterson, who is president of the Horses ‘R Us 4-H Club based out of Bowling Green, has been working with Karma for six years. It has not been easy for the two to find mutual ground.

“It’s a lot of time and a lot of patience,” Patterson said. “That is something that I learned over time is that you have to have patience and you have to work together even when it is really hard.

“We went through a whole season where she would buck me off at every show. I fell off once at least every single show and I wanted to give up, but we just kind of kept working and we just got know each other better. Now, it’s just kind of working together constantly and keeping a bond,” Patterson continued.

“I think a huge part of it is respect. When I first got her I didn’t trust her and I just didn’t trust that should would listen to me and do what I wanted so I was always up in her face and just holding her back and stuff.

“Once I just learned to let it go and just relax, something just happened. There was like a spark, and she’s like this now — she is super calm and now she is the calmest ‘contester’ I know.”

Last weekend, Patterson was competing in contesting, like barrel racing and pole bending, at the Wood County Horse and Pony Club’s Belt Buckle Series at the Wood County Fairgrounds, and this fall she will ride with the Eastwood High School equestrian team.

That was Patterson’s first show with the WCHPC this summer, but she has been competing at various venues around the area all summer, including events at Gibsonburg Saddle Club.

“We did decent — maybe not first place but not last place. We’ve had a lot of good ones,” Patterson said. “Each show has a little bit different classes.

“Our first show, the last class, it was supposed to be a super fun class, I fell off (at Gibsonburg). I had a lot of fun though and got back on and the next weekend we were here and made some money, so that was nice.”

For Patterson, she wants equestrian events to become a lifelong activity in one way or another.

“I plan to go into finance, but I really hope I can have horses for the rest of my life and do what some of the older people do and come to these shows and ride still, even when I’m older,” Patterson said.

“I hope to keep coming to the shows that have older age groups and I hope to keep coming here and help out. I really like 4-H — 4-H puts on these shows and I want to get into keep helping them after I age out.”

Patterson was not the only Eastwood equestrian team member sharpening her skills at the WCHPC event last weekend.

Liesl Pinkelman, who will be a senior carpentry student at Penta Career Center this fall, first started hooking up with horses when she was 11-years-old. However, the relationship was a little cold at first.

“I had a fear of horses for a little while because the first horse we got I got bucked off but since then it has been great,” Pinkelman said.

She now rides a 25-year-old horse, Pharaoh’s Magic, she got from her sister Lydia, who competed before and is now into eventing as a young adult. Lydia recently took a gig working at Lexington Horse Park in Kentucky. It was Lydia who got Liesl interested in equestrian sports.

“We lived in Chicago since way back, in the outskirts of the city, and we always loved horses,” Pinkelman said.

Inheriting Lydia’s 25-year-old filly, who was already trained, was a blessing.

“She is amazing,” Pinkelman said. “She runs her little heart out for me. It’s been good. My sister started out with her for a couple years but once I started riding again we got back into patterns and perfected it. I like to think it’s more about having a happy horse and a relationship with your horse than knowing the patterns.”

On Saturday at the WCHPC event, she competed in Western contesting events like poles, barrels, stakes, and key hole competition at various venues, including BG and Gibsonburg, and she has had her ups and downs.

“Last time (at BG) we didn’t do so great,” Pinkelman said. “I brought my other horse and she struggled a little bit, but I think we’ve been doing good.

“Today I’m just looking forward to having fun. I’m not getting into it too seriously. I guess it’s the adrenaline — it would be nice for me to get in there and have a rush, but it’s not all that. I like to know that I’m safe and my horse has always been safe. She’s never done anything that is upsetting.”

Like her sister Lydia and her Eastwood teammate, Patterson, she hopes to be around equestrian sports all her life, but she has her own specialty, hoping to continue with rodeo after high school.

‘That’s my overall plan, but I’ ve got a couple backups, of course,” Pinkelman said.