Horse riders are a special kind of people, dedicated to the sport and willing to shrug off a rainy day to have some fun.

Sunday morning was a miserable time to be riding a horse, in fact, a miserable day to be doing just about anything outdoors.

However, that didn’t deter more than 50 riders from showing up at the Whidbey Island Pony Club arena on Zylstra Road for a day of horse trials.

Teresa Brown said the one-day event was an open competition for riders of all skill levels and was not rated. The event consisted of dressage and cross country riding, followed by show jumping.

Meika Aecher from Granite Falls was one of the more experienced riders at the event.

“I’m a professional rider,” she said. “I was born in Granite Falls and have been riding all my life.”

Aecher said Sunday’s event was called the Whidbey Island Schooling Show.

“It gives riders a chance to practice in preparation for national-level competition,” she said.

Another veteran competitor was Jill Thomas from Sammamish, whose riding instructor is Ruth Moore from Whidbey Island.

Riding her gray horse named Ivory Coast, Thomas said she has been competing in dressage for 40 years.

One of the younger riders was 16-year-old Lara Ryan from Kent, who was riding her 13-year-old horse Tristin.

“I belong to several riding clubs and we go around to different dressage competitions,” she said. “It’s wet, but I’m going to have fun.”

The event couldn’t have proceeded without ring steward Michelle McKee from Oak Harbor.

“I’m the one in charge of getting people into the ring and getting the competition going,” she said. “We have more than 50 riders out here today.”

The day’s event went on without a hitch and by late afternoon, the weather had improved considerably — much to the delight of the riders and their faithful horses.