While most high school athletes focus on pumping up balls and lacing up cleats, some Verde Valley School students focus on feeding, brushing and saddling their equipment.

The Verde Valley School Equestrian team is a unique recreational riding program offered at the high school level.

Students are able to ride, take care of, compete with and learn invaluable skills from the horses.

“Our goal is to create a connection between horse and rider,” equestrian teacher Caroline Diehl said. “Other high schools have riding, but they usually specialize in one or two forms. We want the students to turn it into a lifetime sport, especially if they want to own their own horses one day.”

Diehl centers the program around daily rides, competitions and natural horsemanship to expose the students to a variety of riding disciplines, events and terrain.

The school has 30 horses, mostly Arabians gained mostly from donation, and one-fourth of the school’s population is a part of the program, about 20 to 25 students. Diehl matches up a student with one horse based on temperament and ability in which that student becomes responsible for that horse.

For the full story, please see the Friday, Oct. 5, issue of the Red Rock News.