SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Humans and horses showed off their skills Sunday as the Aurora Horse Association held its second schooling show of 2009 at North Country Stables.

Victoria Merritt, riding Agile, won the equitation event, also known as horsemanship, where the rider is judged on form, style and ability.

"The riders were judged on position and how effective you are with your horse in the execution of the movements," she said. "There was a rein-back, there was a transition from the extended to transfer gate in the canter, and how you communicate with the horse."

Merritt has been riding for five years, a majority of time aboard Agile. She said being familiar with a horse makes things a lot easier.

"He can do everything I ask of him," she said. "It all comes down to whether I can ask him to do it properly. Horses are a lot like people - they can have off-days as well."

Sienna Hart, riding instructor for the association, said the purpose of the schooling shows is to give students a measure of their progress.

"If you just take lesson after lesson after lesson, that's fine, but you really have no idea where you are compared to everyone else," she said. "In the first show, the riders saw what they needed to work on. This show is a chance to fix up what they needed to work on after the first one. It's all progression. By the last one, everyone should be excellent."

She said preparation for a schooling show comes together in a short amount of time.

"We'll do a few hours on the Saturday before," she said. "On the day of the show, the riders will come out at around 6 a.m. to get them ready. In total, they probably put in about 10 hours to get ready."

This recent show featured the more experienced riders in the association. Hart said the riders will generally choose a horse when they're young in order to get used to a certain ride.

"For instance, Sydney (Turner), she's been on a horse named Sugar ever since she's been riding," she said. "Sydney's nine now, so they've been a team for years."