Diehl Me In Performance Horse LLC sent four of their riders to the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) National Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, to compete against the best in the nation. Riley Eggleton, Mia Powell, Emily Olsen and Abigail Haff are all members of the middle school IEA team. 

In order to qualify for the IEA National Finals, each rider had to earn enough points to go to the Zone Competition, then win that competition in their respective events. Just qualifying for Nationals means these girls are amongst the top dozen or so riders in the country for their events. 

Coming out of her first event, Mia said she felt good about her performance. It appears the judges felt the same, as she was awarded third place out of twelve. 

Mia ended up placing in all three of her events, taking home a third place, fifth place, and seventh place ribbon. 

Emily Olson rode in the Future Novice Ranch Riding event. She was zoned in before her showing and seemed ready to go. Emily was a finalist in her class and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout the competition. 

Going into her first event, Riley Eggleton said, “I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m hoping to place well.” 

While she did not place in her first event, she redeemed herself in her second event, earning second place out of twelve. 

Abigail rode in Future Intermediate Horsemanship Team class, and took home an 8th place ribbon.

The show finished out with a USA themed parade for the presentation of team awards. The Diehl Me In team wore their best red, white and blue.

Coach Megan Diehl said, “We are so proud of our girls. Thank you to all our sponsors. We could not have come here without your generous donations.”