Equestrian wins back-to-back IEA Western Region Champion
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Paisley Jane Fix, 13, of Warriors Mark competed in the Western Interscholastic Equestrian Association Region 11 Finals as a member of The Grier School team on April 12 and 13 at Saddlebrook Equestrian Center in Schwenksville.
Region 11 Finals consisted of qualified riders and teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia.
Paisley earned dual Region Champion Individual titles in both Future Intermediate Reining and Future Intermediate Horsemanship on April 12.
These wins qualified her to compete among the top 12 riders in the country at IEA Western National Finals at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Fort Worth Texas, June 21-23. She also earned Region 11 Middle School High Point Rider.
On April 13, she represented her team as point rider and earned first place in Team Future Intermediate Reining and second place in Team Future Intermediate Horsemanship. These placings, along with great rides from the rest of her teammates, helped them to win Region 11 Champion Team.
This qualified them to defend their current National Team Champion Title in Fort Worth, Texas, this summer.
Paisley, daughter of Donald L Fix IV and Stacy Fix, is an eighth-grade high honors student and multi-sport athlete at Tyrone Area Middle School participating in the Tyrone Lady Eagle JH Softball, Basketball and PA Worth Prospects 14u softball teams. She trains as a community rider for The Grier School under the direction of Chris McElyea at Eagle Valley Equestrian Center. She shows her own horses Velvet Revolverr (Jayda), under the direction of Hill Performance Horses, and Snap Krackle Spook, under the direction of Chris McElyea Horse Training in youth reining and ranch riding in the AQHA and NRHA circuits.
Riders do not need to own a horse to compete in the IEA. The IEA is open to barn teams, public and private schools. Reining is a type of equestrian competition where rider and horse execute a precise pattern of maneuvers meant to mimic the behaviors and skills a horse would need on a cattle ranch in the American West.
Western Horsemanship is a riding discipline that focuses on the riders position and connection with their horse while executing rail and pattern work.