Abigail Mutrux is a 17-year-old junior at University City High School in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the captain of the three-gaited section of the 2012 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. In addition to riding Saddle Seat, she enjoys fox hunting and has been awarded her junior colors.

Perhaps Saddle Seat is something that most children aren’t drawn toward when they first tell their parents that they want to start riding.

I was born into it.

My mother grew up competing at the same national level that I compete at now. She also rode Hunt Seat, just like me. I have been very fortunate in my riding career to meet influential people from different breeds and have made connections that allow for great opportunities.

My first memories of riding begin when I was three with a pony I received for Christmas. I quickly outgrew the foundered Shetland, realizing that he couldn’t break into a canter.

I grew up riding both Hunt Seat and Saddle Seat, fox hunting in the winter beginning at the age of six, and showing Saddle Seat equitation walk and trot until I was ten. It was that year that I left my Grandmother’s backyard farm in O’Fallon, Missouri to compete in the World’s Championship Horse Show at the Kentucky State Fair--a big step up from the local shows in St. Louis. 

Instead of taking our own horse, we visited DeLovely Farms in Rockport, Indiana, just two weeks before the show. We found a suitable horse to lease, which would later become a permanent family member, and went on to win both the qualifier and the championship after just two practice rides.

From there, I continued showing Saddlebreds on a national level with DeLovely, and would return home to gallop around the pastures and over jumps with our hunters.

I have faced some difficulties with having the correct form in the past switching back and forth from Hunt Seat to Saddle Seat, but overall it has only made me more dedicated to each discipline, refusing to give up one side. A common question for me is which seat I prefer, and the answer is always neither. The different skills the two seats require have made me the strong rider and person I am today.


The differences between both styles are fascinating to me, more so in regard to the people than the horses. I have had best friends and family from both sides which helps keep me connected and teaches me to be a supportive competitor around the show ring. One of my instructor’s favorite sayings is  “leave your friends at the in-gate and pick them up at the out-gate.”  And those words truly come into play.

I believe that there is so much to benefit from when you ride multiple seats because you gain the feeling of each horse that will help teach you a lot about the next one. Every trainer and every horse, no matter how green or broke, has shaped me into an international rider and given me the opportunities that so many people dream of.

The 2012 Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup will take place December 4 – 8, 2012 in Parys, South Africa. Learn more about the Saddle Seat World Cup at www.usef.org.