Before a competition, Nichole Peterson practices with her horse for about seven or eight hours a week, working on commands and control in preparation for weekend events. Even with all the practice, the 17-year-old still gets edgy before she and her horse ride out in front of the judges.

"I get nervous, and she gets nervous," Peterson said, "she" meaning her horse Imbeaus Starlight, nicknamed "Little Ma."

Peterson and about 50 other riders competed Sunday afternoon in the North Dakota Quarter-Horse Association's All Novice Horse Show, a chance for the lesser-experienced competitors to show their stuff.

Most events demonstrate the riders' control and the horses' responsiveness as both travel in pathways around the ring or through various obstacles. Sometimes commands get lost between horse and rider, or the horse simply acts up. And competitors only get one chance before the judge. Thus, Peterson's nervousness.

Todd Iszler, vice president of the association, said the contest at the Neuens Memorial Horse Park was to encourage more novice riders to start competing.

It's tough to break in to competing when an inexperienced rider is pitted against riders who have been winning larger contests for years, he said.

The novice show has a youth and an adult category, solely for quarter-horses. On Saturday, the Bismarck Horse Club had a similar event, except all varieties of horse were permitted.

Sheila Scholl, a Bismarck Horse Club event organizer, said about 45 riders participated Saturday. The quarter-horse association and the horse club sometimes stack events in one weekend, so some competitors don't have to make multiple trips to Bismarck.

Most people compete for the fun of it, Scholl said, and don't emphasize any fierce competition amongst themselves.

"(The events) are to see what you've accomplished with your horse," she said.

In the trail event, for example, horses and riders must navigate through obstacles, showing the horse can walk sideways, over wooden planks and in between narrowly spaced logs.

"It's a concept from the cowboy days," Iszler said.

Horses used to have to walk through trails, over bridges, through water. Sometimes they would have to backtrack, moving backwards or sideways. The wooden plank is a substitute for bridges, and the other obstacles are connected to what the horse used to have to do on trails. In some other competitions, Iszler said, horses have to wade through water reminiscent of creeks or rivers.

Judge Dorvan Solberg, a member of the quarter-horse association, said judges look at the horse's motion and temperament. But the bulk of the decision is whether the rider skillfully guides his or her horse, and whether or not the horse accepts commands.

"It's a team effort," he said.

(Reach Laura Schreier at 355-8809 or lschreier@ndonline.com.)