Sisters Take the Saddle: Horseback riding keeps senior Lily Lawrence and freshman Olivia Lawrence close, through support and motivation to improve

Then third-grader Olivia Lawrence smirked as she lightly kicked her horse to make him go faster. She wanted to catch up to her older sister, Lily and she didn’t care about the six other competitors in the academy class division — she just had to beat her sister. And if that meant moving her horse in front of Lily’s, making sure the judges saw her horse’s form instead of her sister’s, then so be it. 

Olivia always wanted to beat her sister, but she’d still congratulate her even if she took second and Lily placed first — a fine balance between supporters and competitors. By competing with each other in every horse show they’ve ever entered, the sisters have used each other to improve at their shared passion for the craft.

Now-freshman Olivia and senior Lily no longer compete against each other, after moving from the “junior varsity” academy level to the higher show level. But their support and love for the sport stayed exactly the same — from asking each other what they needed to focus on the most during their competition to cheering the loudest in the stands during awards. 

They both know what it’s like to lose at a competition or to have a bad ride, so they’re able to sympathize with each other when this happens. 

“​​[My sister] knows how it feels to accomplish those goals and what it feels like to not quite accomplish them,” Lily said. “I know how hard she’s working for it. And I enjoy her supporting me on the side, it helps knowing someone is supporting me out there.”

The girls have been riding together for the last six years. Since they started riding at the same time, they’ve grown from not knowing how to canter to being able to maneuver the horse using their hands, legs and voice together. While they’ve racked up countless shiny blue ribbons and Missouri state champion trophies, it didn’t start out that way.

For the first few months of their riding careers, the sisters seemed to always be in last place.

“When you first start out, losing really sucks,” Olivia said. “I used to feel awful when I lost and then I just shut down for a whole day and I would tell myself I’m awful. But now after years and years of experiencing losing, you just kind of learn to laugh it off.”

Together, they worked hard to improve their ranking, spending three days a week taking lessons at Summit Stables in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Their mom Cara Lawrence grew up riding horses as well, so she takes videos of the girls at competitions to help correct their form and notice what they need to improve on.

“I see these other riders and they don’t really have that push at home and they’re not progressing quickly,” Cara said. “But I know enough to be hard on them. I know the difference between when you’re working hard and [when] you’re not, so I can be honest about it. Like, ‘Hey, I expect more. I have this high standard for you.’ In the end it pushes them along.”

But all of the hours spent training at the barn and the 6-8 competitions each month have never felt like a chore for the girls — their sport has strengthened their sisterly bond. When they’re not walking and trotting with their horses at competitions and making sure their equipment is ready, they’re stashing up on junk food for their hotel room and eating ice cream at midnight because they missed dinner.

Traveling to places like Sedalia, Missouri  and Lexington, Kentucky is their version of a “family vacation.” Competition days tend to be tiring, but each day usually ends in a funny story — like the time they accidentally dyed almost everything in their hotel room blue.

“One time we bought the most horrible blue hair dye ever,” Olivia said. “But we only dyed under our hair because it couldn’t be blue to show. But everything was blue. The shower was blue, [our] faces were blue, it was a horrible idea. But we weren’t upset. It just became one of those memories.”

The girls have competed at every horse show together for the past six years. Next year Lily hopes to attend William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri to continue her horseback riding career. Not having each other to talk to before a competition will be an adjustment, but they’ll still be able to watch one another every once in a while. 

“It wouldn’t be the same if [Lily] wasn’t there because every single show that we’ve ever [done] we’ve always been together,” Olivia said. “So not having her there wouldn’t feel the same.”