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About the Cover
Seventeen-year-old Michigan native Ava Hathaway and her mare, I Will Be A Good RV, a.k.a. “Boo” are proudly featured on this month’s GoMag Fashion Issue cover.
Hathaway is one of those rare talents who does it all and does it all well. She’s a first-team All-State cross-country runner as well as plays basketball. Along with showing horses, she shows beef cattle with her brother and is a member of the National Honor Society.
On top of all that, the newly verbally committed Georgia NCEA equestrian loves fashion. Featured on the cover wearing a Dry Goods light purple shirt and jeans, she illustrates her more “sporty” fashion sense. “I would say I am more into the casual area of fashion. I gravitate towards anything bright and with fun colors. I love pastels – light purple and blues.”
Ava’s 2023 Congress-winning Showmanship outfit went viral last year and was named “Best Dressed” by our readers and social media followers. The now iconic Paula’s Place blue pin-striped outfit is an all-time favorite that Ava continues to wear today.
“If I had the choice, I would never get another Showmanship outfit for the rest of my career,” Hathaway told us.
Ava bought the pre-owned Showmanship outfit off the rack at the Youth World in 2021. “It was a last-minute purchase,” Ava recalls. “What is so funny about this outfit is that we were unsure of it on the rack, and even almost passed on it before Carrie Bachey of Just Peachy insisted I try it on.”
“Once I got it on, it was a no-brainer,” Ava says. “We loved the unique look of it, and I loved the grey in it. Another fun fact is that I used to wear black Showmanship pants with it before my trainer Beckey Schooler insisted I tried on the pinstripes. Once I did, we have never looked back.”
Ava continues, “Just Peachy was great to work with, and I truly believe that the reason this outfit has been so timeless is the pants. The pinstripe pants make the outfit so unique and eye-catching, both up close and from a distance. Paula truly has an eye for making her outfits stand out and be special.”
For 2024, Ava is wearing two new Kevin Garcia Originals shirts. Garcia does all of her custom work. “He is amazing to work with in every way. My two new shirts were a marble print Horsemanship top and a white shear sleeve Trail/Western Riding shirt, and we are currently working with him on designing a couple of new pieces. Kevin recently came out with a metallic line for the retro shirts, so we are going to experiment with one of those. I have recently been gravitating towards white and blues for my outfits. I think that blue looks so good with Boo and white is just so classy.”
Not surprisingly, the classic motto, “Look good, feel good, do good” sums up Ava’s favorite horse show career win – the Congress 15-18 Youth Showmanship last year. “When we got Boo, she had only ever competed in Western Pleasure and Western Riding. We taught her the Showmanship and experienced many ups and downs. We joke that we never would’ve expected Showmanship to be such a strong class for Boo and me, but, sometimes, she still likes to keep us on our toes!”
Ava also adds that training with Beckey Schooler has been an incredible experience. “Beckey challenges me both in and out of the show pen. I truly believe that she brings out the best in me, and I owe a lot of my success to her. She holds me to a high standard, and I am very competitive, so we have a great balance.”
GoHorseShow would like to wish this talented young lady the best of luck this show season and in all of her future endeavors.
CLICK HERE to view the May Issue of GoMag
The deadline for the June Summer Shows and APHA World Show Issue of GoMag is Tuesday, May 28. To reserve your space, call or text Suzannah Fuhrman, GoHorseShow’s Co-founder and Executive Vice President, at 214-449-8716 or email her at [email protected]. She will be happy to answer any of your questions and can help design an advertising package to fit your needs and budget perfectly. GoHorseShow…Where The Winners Go.
