Youth Nationals
What do you hope every exhibitor takes away when all is said and done at the end of week? It’s about the journey with our incredible Arabians and Half-Arabians, sportsmanship, and the friends you make along the way. The prizes are just icing on the cake.
Trainer:
Kellie Wendling Kellie Wendling and Dalton Budd make up the training duo at Select Show Horses—a barn that enjoyed a great deal of success in the Saddle Seat division at Youth this year. Their wins include the Arabian Saddle Seat Equitation 14-18 Champion and Reserve, the HalfArabian Park JTR Champion, the Arabian Show Hack JTR 14-18 Champion and the Half-Arabian Saddle Seat Equitation 14-18 Reserve Champion. What were your favorite moments of this year’s show? Youth Nationals had a lot of great moments for me, but two of my favorite classes were the Arabian Saddle Seat Equitation 14-18 and the H/A Park JTR. Having two of my riders named Champion and Reserve in the purebred equitation was very special to me as both of them started riding with me almost 10 years ago. I have watched them both work so hard over the years to accomplish their goals. All of my riders really are a team— they push each other, support each other, and believe in each other, and so for them to share such a special moment together was really meaningful to me. I also really loved watching the Half-Arabian Park JTR. We had 4 riders in the class and it was Faith Robbins that had the ride that night that came out as the winner, but as I watched each of them come out of the ring with their top tens, I saw so much passion, enthusiasm, and genuine love for the sport. We have to teach our riders to strive for the perfect ride, not the perfect ribbon.
to be the best we can be, and be ready to compete at the highest level. It is a great show and a great week spent with barn family.
First And Last Time Youth National Champion: Natalie Schrenk
19 years old and showing in her first and final Youth Nationals, Natalie Schrenk had a show worth boasting about. Showing in both the Arabian Mare Breeding JOTH and JTH classes, Natalie brought home two national championships with Sheza Marcedes. What was your journey to Youth Nationals and how did you come to own Sheza Marcedes? In October of 2012, I purchased a Half-Arabian gelding named Ultra Cowboy. About four months after purchasing Cowboy, his previous owner contacted my mom asking if we’d like to buy another horse from her good friend. My mom immediately said no— we were not in the market for a fourth horse. We looked at the video anyway and fell in love with this beautiful mare. Sheza Marcedes’ owner was downsizing her herd and knew she was a diamond in the rough, and just wanted “Sadie” to go to a good home. It was a compliment to us that our mutual friend thought of us when she heard “good home.” We purchased Sheza Marcedes and moved her to Michigan from Florida in February of 2013. Moving her from sunny Florida to frigid Michigan was tough on our mare. We gave her time to adjust then started her in training to be a performance horse. She was coming along, but I sensed she needed a different path. Knowing that her breeding lent itself to halter, I moved her to Cathy Murphy-Economy’s barn, Full Moon Arabians.
Why do you think YN is important for your own barn, and also, for the Arabian industry at large? Youth Nationals is a wonderful part of the Arabian horse industry. Having a specific show for junior exhibitors really allows the environment and culture of the week to be fun and youthful. I believe that it is one of the greatest things that our industry has going right now. New people entering the horse world really love the idea of a national show that is fun, family oriented and held during the summer months. For Select Show Horses, Youth Nationals is like Christmas! It is the one week of the year that all of the kids look forward to the most. We spend the entire year preparing
Volume 45, No. 5 | 255AAA