Trending
Before Abby McCoy was even born, her mother Joy was chatting with a neighbor who joked with Joy that if she had a daughter, she was going to get her into horse riding competitions. It was a light-hearted joke by a neighbor, but little did Abby's parents know it would end up becoming more than true.
McCoy didn't simply get into horse riding, she became talented at it and it's become part of her life.
The 2018 Williamsport graduate recently competed for Emory and Henry's equestrian team at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association national championship, claiming a title for the team and taking tenth individually in the open-over-fences competition.
She competed for the program as an open rider all year and qualified individually in the open-over-fences and also qualified in for the Caccione Cup, taking seventh out of 24 competitors.
"It was definitely harder competition than what we experienced in our region and our zone," McCoy said of the national competition. "I guess going into it we all knew we had a good team. We had a good group of girls that were going. It was not to get in our head about it, everyone plays well, but once you get it in your head, you don't always be your best."
After riding as a kid thanks to her neighbor, McCoy's love for equestrian riding grew more and more. She played softball briefly but kept going back to equestrians.
"It comes so naturally to me. Most of my coaches and trainers thought I had a natural eye, and that's how you see the distances to the jump and I have a natural feel with riding," McCoy said.
In college, there's eight different divisions for teams, including walk trot, walk trot cantor, flat section, jumping section, flat and jumping through novice, intermediate and open levels. When McCoy and other riders got to college, they answered numerous questions regarding horse shows outside of college to see what position they will be placed into based on skill level.
McCoy began her career as a freshman as an intermediate before she pointed out. She lost her sophomore year due to COVID-19 and didn't get to compete as a sophomore or junior. When she came back this past year as a senior, she got to compete in the open division.
It's bittersweet for McCoy to have won a national title as both a freshman and senior.
"It was really cool because I went in winning a national championship my freshman year and to go out like that is really awesome," the former Millionaire said. "It shows too even though we had a two-year gap, we're still the top team. So that was really cool to have that and experience it."
McCoy's career as a rider is still up in the air given that she's graduated college. But she's not done with the sport. She was recently hired as Emory and Henry to be an instructor for the team.
"I think I'll keep riding my entire life, I don't know how competitive because I'm a very competitive person," McCoy said.
Being able to stay at her college alma mater is rewarding for McCoy, especially knowing the respect her coaches have for her after she graduated.
"It meant a lot for me to have my coaches offer the job for me. I had to interview with the entire college and faculty, it just meant a lot that some of my professors I even interviewed with are now my colleagues," McCoy said. "It meant a lot to have them think of me that way."