Bucking the flair, adornment and speed of most equestrian competitions, Emma Scotthanson of Clinton will take part in Washington State Fair’s dressage competition.

Dressage is a horse riding competition in which the horse is on full display and is expected to perform flawlessly. Unlike other riding competitions with colorful vests and rhinestone-adorned hats, dressage is noted for its uniform of a white undershirt, white overshirt, white pants and black wool riding coat.

Horse and rider must perform a pattern as one. If a casual viewer thinks Emma, 14, isn’t doing much, then she knows she did well.

“It’s a lot of work and you do not just sit there,” Emma said. “… You’re trying to make it look easy.”

Based on her scores at the Whidbey Equestrian Center in Coupeville over the past several months, Emma is indeed an easy rider. She qualified for the state fair’s dressage competition, which runs Sept. 9-11, at one of the Island County competitions this spring. Typically, Emma scores in the mid-60s and high-60s. Her highest score was a 78, but a low-60s score, out of 100 possible points (largely considered to be a nearly impossible score, though the first-ever perfect score was reportedly achieved in June by a rider in Ottawa, Ontario) would have sent her on to Puyallup.

All of this success has come for a dressage novice and a horse bred for herding cattle. Romeo, Emma’s 10-year-old American Quarter Horse, wasn’t very good at cutting competitions in which the horse and rider separate one cow from the herd — and for good reason. Romeo is terrified of cows, Emma and her mother Kelly Scotthanson say, to the point that he visibly quakes. Otherwise, he’s an unflappable equine.

“He fell asleep on the 4th of July but he’s terrified of cows,” Emma said. 

While Emma, who began high school this week, awaits her upcoming state fair performance, she continues to compete with Romeo. Two weekends before they headed to Puyallup, Emma and Romeo had three consecutive days of performances.

Girl and horse are with each other four hours at least five times each week. Emma and her mother jokingly liken Romeo to a dog because of the horse’s canine nature, despite standing 15-and-two-hands tall — 5 feet, 2 inches.

“I call him my horse-lab,” Emma said as she stroked his muzzle and brushed his back, with Romeo searching for treats by licking her hands at any chance.

As a large animal that gets ridden so often, he also has a healthy appetite, and Romeo is not shy about letting people know it. One time, said Emma, the horse snatched a piece of pepperoni pizza off a nearby table in the stable when she wasn’t looking, which is probably more Scooby-Doo than it is Snoopy.

“He’s very social,” she said. “Like if you don’t feed him on time, he’ll get very fussy and whinny at you.”

Come competition time, Emma hopes to avoid a test disaster like one that occurred recently. During the riding portion of the competition, Romeo suddenly stopped the pattern, and no amount of nudging or spurring by Emma would move him. Then the horse pooped in the arena, docking several points from their score.