Sara Esqueda

Success at Youth Nationals – When Hard Work Pays Off

CP Rumor Has It+//

FERRARA PHOTO

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Sarah Esqueda’s first Youth National Championship with Hope JF+// (SV Basksko x Misty Highlight), winning 2006 Champion Half-Arabian Hunter Pleasure Walk/Trot 10 & Under.

Preceding page: Sarah and CP Rumor Has It+// (CP Sequoia x CP Jasmine), 2016 Youth National Champion Show Hack JOTR.

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D E A R T H

arah Esqueda is a determined young woman who has achieved unparalleled success at the national level, beginning in the walk/trot division. At this year’s Youth Nationals she won twelve national championships. “This year’s Youth Nationals was the pinnacle for Sarah,” says her grandfather Charles Hawley. “Her record will give people something to reach for. And that’s what life is about — reaching for the unreachable.” Her grandmother Mary Hawley adds, “I’m an ex-teacher so I am glad that Sarah can be an example of the success that you can achieve if you are dedicated and work hard toward a goal.”

Sarah got her start with horses at the age of four when her grandparents bought her and her cousin, Caitlin, a pony named Kokomo. “We showed at a local horse show in La Habra Heights, California, and our mothers saw how interested we were in horses,” Sarah says. “My Mom and her sister Alison had Arabian horses when they were in high school and college, but when Caitlin and I got interested, they wanted to get back into it. Rick Nab helped us at that time. Rick taught me how to ride from scratch.”

Sarah was dedicated from the beginning. When her grandfather was asked if Sarah had to be encouraged, he said, “It was never a matter of keeping Sarah going with the horses, it was a matter of keeping her from going too fast. Sometimes we would have to rein her in.” Her mother Keri adds, “Sarah’s grandparents were the instigators. I blame them every time I get a horse bill. It’s their fault. They introduced her to something that ended up being her life goal.”

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Right: Sarah and HP Guns And Roses+ (*Magnum Chall HVP x ETC Cracklin Rosy), the son of Sarah’s first Arabian and the first horse the Esquedas bred.

Below: The Big Dance++// (NDL Flashdance x Callaway’s Lyric) is a three-time Youth National Champion Half-Arabian Show Hack winner, Youth National Reserve Champion Half-Arabian Gelding Saddle/Pleasure Type JTH, and this year was National Reserve Champion in Half-Arabian

OSTEEN/SCHATZBERG PHOTO

Native Costume JOTR.

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The Burkman Centre crew with Sarah and her horses at the 2016 Youth Nationals. Pictured from left to right: Mark, Ernesto, Christian, Broadway Show+/, Taryn Lundquist, The Big Dance++//, Sarah, Big Time DDA+//, Cynthia Burkman, CP Rumor Has It+//, Devin Miller, Mama Mia LOA+//, Miguel, and Gabriel.

“My first Arabian was ETC Cracklin Rosy (Diamond Jimm x Rose Of Perkal),” says Sarah. “In the beginning my Mom went to shows to see which horse trainers were working early in the morning and late at night. She noticed that Cynthia Burkman was a true horse trainer and the hardest worker at the shows. So she asked Cynthia if I could ride with her.” As her mother tells it, “I first saw Cynthia Burkman at a Santa Barbara horse show. I drove around the show to see who could be a role model for my precious little girl. I was looking for an overall role model, not just a trainer. I saw Cynthia quietly working hard day and night. At the time, Cynthia was still in California at High Star Farms. Every weekend we would drive three and a half hours up to Los Alamos so Sarah could ride and take lessons. We’d have lunch and then we would drive back home. Every weekend.”

“My first Youth Nationals was in 2006, and that’s when I won my first national championship,” says Sarah. “At that time Tammy Burkman was helping me with walk/trot.” Keri adds, “We’ve been with Cynthia twelve years. Early on Tammy, Cynthia’s sister, worked mostly with Sarah. She made her lessons fun. Tammy is really good at that. We benefited from both of them.”

“If health permitted we would be at every show,” Sarah’s grandparents say. “Now we watch on the live feed. It’s too bad that some people will stay home rather than going to the show and experiencing the live action. There is nothing like being there with the smell and excitement. We enjoy meeting Sarah’s friends and watching the competition.” As with so many others, Arabian horses provide an enriching family activity. “I keep telling Dad that the horses are in her blood. It’s ongoing,” says Keri.

“Sarah’s dad, Tony, and and I intend to help her as long as we can. It’s been a family affair. We’ve done what we can to make her dreams come true.” Of those dreams Sarah says, “This Youth Nationals I came home with twelve national championships, 4 b SARAH ESQUEDA b WORLD

Below: BAF Night Dancer+// (WN Night Star x *Zemina), Sarah’s early western, hunter, and dressage horse.

which was incredible. It was pretty unbelievable. I was very proud of my horses.”

After Sarah finished high school she moved to Scottsdale to attend Scottsdale Community College and be close to her horses. She says, “This summer I was at Cynthia’s barn almost every day.

I took nine horses to Youth Nationals, so I would ride three of them each day.

Practicing that much allowed me to get a different connection with my horses. I knew them better and we became a better team; we got to know each other on a different level. I wanted to work hard so that my last year of Youth Nationals I could go out with a big bang. That was my goal. I wanted to make everyone proud of me. I was very blessed to be able to take nine horses, so I was determined to show them the best I could. I never dreamed I could win twelve national championships at one show. That’s just insane. I’ve never won twelve championships at any show!”

Sarah and ETC Cracklin Rosy+// (Diamond Jimm x Rose Of Perkal).

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Sarah and Mama Mia LOA+// (Mamage x My Lucky Day), 2016 Youth National Champion Half-Arabian Show Hack JTR 14-18 and JOTR, and Champion Half-Arabian Ladies Sidesaddle English JTR and JOTR — undefeated in all classes at the 2016 Youth Nationals.

Cynthia Burkman’s influence on Sarah cannot be overstated. “Cynthia treats me like her daughter,” Sarah says. “Before each class she gives me a pep talk. Her opinion means everything to me.” Keri adds, “Cynthia has always been more than just a trainer.

She has been a confidante, a pseudo-mother, a teacher, and a disciplinarian. She was all of the things that Sarah needed. I don’t think Cynthia fully realizes how much the kids look up to her and admire her. They want to be like her.”

“Sarah doesn’t give up easily and she never gets angry,” Cynthia says. “She sticks it out and I respect her a lot for that. When things haven’t gone well Sarah practices more until she gets it right. And she has a couple of horses that are hard to ride. She will continue to ride them rather than, say, get rid of it and get a new one that’s easier.

Because she is persistent, Sarah can figure out how to ride them. For instance, western was always hard for Sarah, but she has worked hard to figure out how to get the horse to work. It helps that she never gets mad at the horses. She truly loves the horses and cares deeply for them. Moving to Arizona to be closer to the horses was a pretty big deal when it’s your first time away from home.”

Sarah makes it clear that she values all of the trainers at the Burkman Centre.

“Natalie Jones is my western trainer,” she says. “It is the hardest discipline to do and I have never been good at it. She makes sure I am relaxed before I go in. Taryn Lundquist is a bundle of joy. She always makes you happy right before you go in the ring.

Without her the Burkman Centre would not be the same. And I love Devin Miller. She always knows what to say to me,” Clearly Devin admires Sarah. “If you tell Sarah what 6 b SARAH ESQUEDA b WORLD

to do she is going to do it,” Devin says.

“If you tell her to do more she’s going to step it up. She can be exhausted at a show and she will still give more effort. Sarah is the kid who is there before anybody. She is not someone that you have to call and say, ‘Hey, the class before you is going in the gate.’ And we have a couple of those.

She has a great work ethic. And at the end of the day no matter what happened she is a happy person. If she loses she will ask, ‘What do I need to do to make it better?’

She knows that she has a couple of horses that aren’t as competitive as some of the others and she always asks what she can do to make that one a little bit better. She wants to succeed and will put in the extra time and effort to make that happen.”

Top: Versailles PCF+ (Pstrategy x Veronica GA), Unanimous 2016 Youth National Champion Gelding JOTH and Reserve Champion Gelding JTH, pictured with Sarah and trainer Sandro Pinha of Arabians International, Arizona.

Bottom: Big Time DDA+// (Its Sshow Time x Ramona’s Scarlett), 2015 Scottsdale Champion Half-Arabian Hunter Pleasure 15-18 JOTR and 2016 Youth National Reserve Champion Half-Arabian Hunter Pleasure JOTR 14-18.

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Designed and produced by Arabian Horse World · 10/16

Sarah with trainer Cynthia Burkman.

This year’s Youth Nationals results for Sarah were an emphatic exclamation point to an incredible career. “I’m still euphoric about what happened at Youth this year. It’s about having goals and working hard,” Keri says. “It’s weird to get to the end of the Youth Nationals era. It felt very strange leaving the show thinking this was the last time for Youth. But Sarah’s success creates a closure.” Sarah adds, “Now that I am moving into adult amateur, I will be showing fewer horses.

I will start at ASU in the spring and go into business management. I am thinking about opening a boutique here in Scottsdale. First I will be a vendor at the shows and then I will do an online store selling boho style clothes.

Eventually I want a storefront. It would be fun to have a store and continue riding. I want to work in the fashion industry, but I will always have Arabian horses in my life.”

Highland Pride Arabians Keri and Sarah Esqueda La Habra Heights, California Email: HighlandPrideArabians@hotmail.com Contact: Cynthia Burkman, trainer 805-350-0342