Up on a chestnut quarter horse, sophomore Caitlin Renshaw is the only rider from Glacier Peak to participate in the first ever WAHSET (Washington State High School Equestrian Teams) group of Snohomish County.

Twenty students from surrounding schools come together and practice with their horses in two groups, the gaming group and the performance group.

“We do more than just ride together. We go to the mall, out to dinner or off road quading.” Renshaw said

In the gaming group, riders practice barrel racing, pole bending and birangle (a team event with 2 or more people). Teams meet every Monday with little coach help but a lot of pointers from each other.

“We’re like a family, always helping each other.” Renshaw said

These events are timed and judges make sure riders stay in the lines that are drawn and don’t hit the barrels, which would result in a five second penalty. The lower the time, the better the score and rank for your team.

For the performance group of riders, it’s a little different. Unlike the gaming events these riders are judged more on posture and how the horse and rider work together and less on the time it takes to complete the event.

Performance riders get together once a month at clinics where the coaches are more involved. Practicing patterns, how to work with their horse, and how to sit on their horse.

Riders travel all over the state to compete in events from Vancouver to Elma, competing against teams from across the state.

One big award for being in this group is the scholarship. Riders buy a raffle ticket for $1 and enter it into a drawing to win a scholarship ranging anywhere from 1,000 to more, where one name will be pulled from each district.

Most of the participants are from Snohomish High School, and the WAHSET group looks forward to more members from Glacier Peak in the years to follow.