50 SIDELINES JULY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Jan Westmark-Allan
Lia Screnci has the best of both worlds when it comes to
school and riding – because she gets to do both! Horse showing
is encouraged at American Heritage School in Boca/Delray,
Florida, where Lia is a 10th grade student. The American Heritage
Equestrian Program gives students the chance to compete in
a variety of disciplines – hunters, jumpers, polo, short stirrup,
dressage, reining and more.
“I like American Heritage because it’s a really nice atmosphere,
the students and faculty are great, and it offers a little bit of
everything. From sports, to the arts, to academics, it’s just an all-
around fantastic school. The riding program is great because I
have my fve core classes in the morning (math, science, English,
history and foreign language), and then after lunch I get to leave
and do something I love that counts for all of my elective credits.
On Fridays if I have to miss school for a horse show, it counts as a
school activity, which doesn’t count against me or get marked as
an absence because it is part of the riding program. It’s awesome,”
Lia said.
The “awesome” riding program kicked into high gear last
year, when Lia’s mother, Cindy Screnci, who has an extensive
equestrian background and owns an equestrian apparel company,
became the Director of the Equestrian Program. “We have created
a program where you don’t have to choose horses or school. The
students can get the full middle and high school experience and
train at the same time,” Cindy said. “They don’t have to be isolated
e
because they are horse kids. They can go to the prom and to a
horse show. We have also started an Interscholastic Equestrian
Association (IEA) Team.”
The students in the American Heritage Equestrian Program
attend school in the morning, and then after lunch head to their
individual barns and trainers. The school doesn’t have a facility,
but encourages students to ride with area trainers and even
transports them to their farms. Sidelines caught up with Lia, 16,
who rides with Alan Korotkin at Castlewood Farm in Wellington,
Florida, to fnd out more about being a student at American
Heritage, about her riding career and goals for the future.
The American Heritage riding program is growing, are you
excited about the growth?
Yes! The riding program started last year when I was in 9th
grade and we started with only three in the individual program.
Throughout the frst quarter my mom built up the program and by
the time we started the IEA season in November (we started late),
we had about seven riders. This year the program has grown a
lot, we have eight kids in the individual program and our IEA team
had 11 riders. We already have about 16 riders committed to the
program next year. It keeps getting bigger and bigger.
How does the American Heritage Equestrian Program work?
Their are two separate programs. I ride individually with Alan
Korotkin, but I am also on the American Heritage IEA team,
From Prom to Horse Shows -
The Best of Both Worlds
Lia and her Dutch
Warmblood jumper
Volado show off their
success during the
Winter Equestrian
Festival.
Photo by Chazz Freeman
Continued on page 52