Published: April 16, 2009 08:49 pm      

Show ring rock star

Horses come first for Lexie Flint

FAIRMONT — By the age most babies had just learned to sit up by themselves, 6-month-old Lexie Flint had already sat on her first horse.

When other 3-year-olds were learning to brush their teeth, she was already riding.

“I got started because Mom has always done it,” Lexie said. “It’s fun.”

In 2006, the 9-year-old won World Reserve champion.

In August 2008, the 11-year-old placed sixth out of 300 at World Championship in Louisville, Ky., in her age division, for the United States and Canada.

And now, just barely 12, she’s ready to add to her trophy case.

This week she and her mother Melissa (and as many other family members who can get away) will journey to Columbus, Ohio, for the River Ridge Charity Horse Show. It’s the first show of the season for her.

Her most recent wins include: April 2008: Champion and Grand Champion, River Ridge Charity Horse Show, Columbus Ohio; May 2008: Champion, Bonnie Blue National Horse Show, Lexington, Va.; June 2008: Rock Creek Charity Horse Show, Louisville, Ky; and September 2008: champion, ASHAV Horse Show, Lexington, Va.

The Pleasant Valley Elementary sixth-grader cheers when she can. But horses come first ... in her schedule, in her life and in her heart.

Callaway’s Forty Niner, her 8-year-old American Saddlebred, is stabled at trainer Clark Clouse’s Clouse Stables in Versailles, Ky., so every other weekend she and her mom make the five-hour trip there so she can practice on him Friday nights and Saturdays.

In the meantime, she practices at least four nights a week at Marshall Manor Stables, owned by her grandparents Tom and Pat Marshall. She usually rides Shaq, a retired American Saddlebred given to the family, but sometimes she’ll ride Flash or one of the many other horses there.

“She can’t ride just every other week. She has to keep her legs and mind fit,” Melissa said.

But when it comes to the ring, it’s her and Forty Niner all the way.

They’re a team. They have to be. They have to trust each other. One misstep by the large horse, and they could be docked points. Or, far worse, she could be injured.

They even have to look alike.

“Her outfit has to complement the horse. He has a white face, so she had to have a white coat. You don’t want to take away from the horse’s coat. You want everything to tie in. Everything is thought out beforehand. You wouldn't think it’s such a lot of work but it it.”

This is a family sport. Melissa and her husband, Dr. Robert Flint, both show, and little brother 8-year-old Lance will probably get his own pony next year.

“We all go to support her,” Melissa said. “We do give up a lot, being out of town so much. But this has to be a priority to do well, like with anything. She likes to cheer, but she can cheer only in the winter. She has to be here four nights a week other times.”

Until last year, all her shows were just walk-and-trot. Now she’s advanced to walk-trot-canter. A canter is “like a gallop but not really,” Lexie explained.

“We were really nervous about that class,” Melissa said. “There were a lot of horses and it was her first time to canter. But she won. She did a remarkable job. It takes a lot of practice.”

Lexie’s become kind of a show ring rock star.

“People know who you are,” Melissa said. “She’s been in several magazines. Each time you have a big win, when you come out of the ring the paparazzi, they pretty much tackle you.”

Lexie kind of likes that notoriety, her mom added. And, of course, there are all the neat trophies and ribbons and silver trays she wins.

But none of this would be possible without the close teamwork she shares with Forty Niner.

“If your horse isn’t trained well, you won't do well in shows,” she said. “They must be trained to know what to do. He has to hold his head up and his feet have to be up.”

“If the horse messes up, they take off for that,” Melissa said. “They look for ability of mount (Forty Niner) to rider (Lexie). They have to look like they go together, like they’re a team. If the rider is really taller than the horse, or if the horse is smaller, they look at all that.”

The three-judge panel at the Lexington show must have really liked what they saw, because they gave her a unanimous win.

The world show was probably the largest and most prestigious she’s competed in, the preteen said.

Her win was even more remarkable because Forty Niner was still recovering from a leg injury.

“To get sixth in the world is probably like getting first around here,” Melissa said. “It is a very big deal. He gave 100 percent of his heart.”

These show horses “get better care than most people,” she said.

“I just have to think about what I have to do,” Lexie said. “I don’t pay attention to the audience. And he’s used to it.”

A rider in her age division must earn so many points to participate in such a prestigious show, where such celebrities as William Shatner and Carson Kressley show.

The horses wear special weighted shoes to make them lift their legs so high, Melissa said.

“They’re only about a pound, just enough for the horses to notice they’re there. They exercise the horses with stretchers. They have to get in shape to carry the shoes.”

The head must be carried high, also.

And then there’s the tail.

“Some of the horses wear extensions,” Melissa said with a laugh. The tails are wrapped on nonshow days to keep them from dragging the ground.

But she doesn’t have to worry about Lexie’s safety when it comes to Forty Niner.

“He’s got good manners. He’s sweet,” Lexie said. “I feed him peppermints. He knows me.”

“They have to be good at what they do,” Melissa said.

Lexie doesn’t get tired of the practicing and the shows. She takes school work with her and does it in the motorhome on the way down. But all the traveling can get a bit much, she said.

“Yeah. I get tired of riding in the car.”

The farthest show this year will be Asheville or maybe even Kansas City in the fall.

“She’s always quiet,” Melissa said of Lexie. “But you could never tell that in the ring. Her dad and I get very nervous when she’s in the ring. This is a dangerous sport.

“You’re on a big animal that has a mind of its own. It’s scary but we know she’s safe. They have ambulances there. They don’t take it lightly.

“But she’s like, ‘We’re cool.’”

Each time Lexie has won, she got to make a victory pass, just her and Forty Niner and her ribbons, parading around the ring in front of everybody, cameras flashing, people applauding.

“And, yes, I do cry,” Melissa said. “Especially the first time she won. We didn’t think she would win. It was very emotional.”

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.