Sunday marks the second-to-last day of the Western Saddle Club Association’s Championship Horse Show at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Since Thursday, hundreds of horses and riders have been taking the stage. On Sunday morning, riders in the Adaptive Riders class, which allows kids and adults with various social, motor, or other developmental challenges, to compete, finally had their turn.

One of those riders is 14-year-old Sophia Andrys from Stacy, Minn., who has an unspoken but unbreakable bond with her horse, Martha.

“She just listens to me when I talk to her. She just follows me. She just loves to hang out with me,” Andrys said. 

The two saddled up to compete in barrels, keys and poles with quite the expectations for the day: “First place,” Andrys said. 

And with hours of training under their belts, as well as some help from their own personal cheering squad, Andrys and Martha did just that. The duo brought home a first-place trophy and two second-place ribbons. 

But riding in the arena, it’s not only about taking home the hardware. That’s because this friendship also serves as a form of therapy for Andrys.

“She’s on the autism spectrum, and she has ADHD, so they kind of can either work together or they fight each other,” Andrys’ mom, Melissa, said. “[Sophia] has a hard time regulating her emotions. Horses have been an amazing gift for that. When she feels like other people don’t understand her, her horse understands her.”

And that feeling is one everyone in the Adaptive Riders class can relate to, and it’s why the WSCA says it created a space for riders like Andrys four years ago.

“We had a lot of people who were able to come with a portion of their family and not their whole family,” James Duenow with WSCA said. 

Duenow says while the turnout in the adaptive class isn’t large, it is impactful.

“We ask that more shows include these adaptive classes so we can have full family inclusion. It means a lot,” he said.

The last competitions in the WSCA Championship show start Monday at 7 a.m.