Sophomore Jackie Bullock mounts the horse with confidence, sits up tall and gently pulls the reins back as she sets her eyes on the prize. With her riding helmet alongside her black, show jacket, Bullock and Braden, the horse she rides, make a leap over the log fence.
Having always had an interest in horses, Bullock started horseback riding lessons in sixth grade. Although she started because of her interest in the activity, she ended up finding a lot of joy in horseback riding, focusing more on the equitation discipline.
“The equitation discipline is based on technique; they basically judge how the horse looks and its expression,” Bullock said.
Having previously attended national shows like Upperville and Lexington Nationals, Bullock competes at the three feet level, which is a course of 8-10 jumps set at the height of 3ft. However, she faces difficulties when it comes time for shows.
“I usually struggle with nerves before shows,” Bullock said. “I also struggle with consistency as the nerves get to me; some shows I’ll be on point and then other shows I won’t be.”
While struggling with competition anxiety for horseback riding, pole vaulting provides her a reprieve from the stress. Her journey started after trying out for winter track on Nov. 6, when pole vault coach and English teacher James Steck recommended she try out.
“I saw Jackie running the 200 meter time trial, and I just noticed she had a really good running form, good stride, good coordination, and she knew how to kind of control her body,” Steck said. “She was also reasonably tall, so I thought she would make a pretty good pole vaulter; turns out she makes a great one.”
Injured with shin splints for a handful of weeks, she didn’t actually start competing until postseason. Nevertheless, she competed at her first district championship meet where she jumped the state standard of nine feet and qualified for states.
“Even though she started the season off with an injury, she pushes herself to improve every practice,”Steck said .“Jumping nine feet right off the bat at her first competition was really quite an impressive feat from her.”
Although it isn’t currently horse show season, Bullock has a tight schedule after school. With pole vault practices two days a week that end at around 5:30 p.m, she attends riding lessons around 6 p.m on Wednesdays and Fridays.
“It’s definitely a little stressful timewise because there’s only so much time in the day and I want to do two sports that are both time-consuming,” Bullock said. “I also need to keep up my grades and my social life, so it was a little hard at first and I’m still learning how to balance it all, but it’s definitely better than it was.”
A lot of her friends look up to and admire her time management skills as well as her determination to continue horseback riding while adventuring into her new passion for pole vault.
“Jackie advances in her athletic life constantly, but still excels academically and socially,” sophomore Shreya Sundarraj said. “What I truly look up to her for is her time management and strategy of balance in her life.”
Bullock’s goal for pole vaulting is to continue to have fun, improve her technique, and break double digits (10+ ft). In addition, she wants to take competing in horseback riding less seriously and focus solely on enjoying her time at the stables.
“Hopefully, I break the school record for pole vaulting (11’ indoor, 11’6” outdoor) by the end of high school,” Bullock said.
