The passion that I have for horses was not created, but inherited. Walking into my parent's kitchen at age 10 and demanding my "own" horse was a laughable story I'm sure my parents thought they would be telling for years, not explaining to my now, fiance, where my passion came from. This industry has not only developed me into who I am today, but into who I will become tomorrow. She lived four mil
es from our family home. I rode once day a week, for two hours a day, for two years. One of the most charming challenges of this experience was the option, or necessity, to ride all different kinds of horses. Some big and slow, some small and fast. You never knew who you would draw on your lesson day. At age 13 I began showing. Ednabelle gave us the option to pick one school horse that we got along with, hauled safely, and could perform with on some what of a consistant basis. I was now showing at open breed horse shows! Saturdays we would have our group lesson, bath, clip, and clean our otherwise schooling tack and create "show" tack. Saturday nights or early Sunday morning we would meet at Ednabelle's, hope to goodness that our mount would load up quickly and quietly as we hit the road for a long day of all around competition. At age 14 after several leases of your basic, unregistered mount, I was given the opportunity to lease and own a daughter of a World Champion Mare. It was at this time that my mom and I decided to commit to breed shows. A Tobiono mare, named Jazz, made it easy for us to determine what breed we would be showing. Jazz and I were a solid team for 3 years. As my goals changed, my horse that needed to as well. At age 15 and one month before my 16th birthday we purchased Shooter; "Conclusive Bullet". Shooter had been a prospect that we looked at earlier prior to leasing Jazz. We choose Jazz at the time because Shooter was still a baby, and had a lot of manners left to develop. When this 16 hand Tobiono gelding came available on the market again, he had passed through several owners in the state of AZ. His reputation had only gotten worse, never fully developing those well-needed manners. Mom and I took a drive to New River after three months of what I like to call "horse waiting" (not shopping), we discovered a fat, long haired beast. I threw my saddle on, swung one leg over, and so began our ride. At age 18, year 2004 I was 15th on the AJPHA Top Twenty, Honor Roll in the 14-18 Horsemanship, Western Riding, and Trail. 2nd in Zone 2. Multiple High-Point and circuit winner nation wide, all while leading the AzPHC into Club of the Year. My story has something in it for everyone. Work ethic, goals, tears, disappointment, encouragement, friendships, laughs and heartache. At the end of 2004 I sold my business partner, my best friend, my teammate, and my sanity to pay for my college education. When asked "wasn't it hard" or "don't you miss him", my answer is this-
I cannot imagine who I would have become if I had kept Shooter. Shooter allowed me to grow, manage, focus, and to dream; I have to one day get back to where I left off. He helped me become who I am today. He loved me for who I allowed him to be; tough, fun, and successful. Shooter, Jessica Lynn Show Apparel was created for you. See you in the arena.
