Taylor Brown of Strathmore, California and her mount, Just Hit Town (Hamilton), are ready to defend their 2012 AQHYA World Championship title in the highly competitive and popular Trail class. The always challenging Tim Kimura patterns caused some difficult tests for the competitors last year, but Brown and Hamilton conquered the pattern and had only one tick over a lope log to score an impressive 222.5 to come away with the gold trophy.
“Winning the youth world last year in the trail on Hamilton was unbelievable,” says Brown, who recently turned 18 on July 28th. “It didn’t settle in for a while, but it was a dream come true, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Brown adds, “I’m not really nervous about defending my title, but more anxious to see what will happen. It has always been a challenging class, but I think there will be more pressure on me this year and everybody will be watching, so, I want to do even better.”
Last March of 2012, Brown purchased a new all-around horse, AbsoluteBestAsset (Axle) that she will be showing in the equitation, horsemanship, western riding, and performance halter geldings at the Youth World. Brown is currently under the guidance of Kellie Hinley of Trendsetter Performance Horses which is located in Chino Hills, California.
“Axle is the biggest goofball with the best personality; he is a very loving horse and always wants to be loved on,” says, Brown who will be attending Fresno State as a pre-vet major and will also be on the equestrian team. “Our biggest win so far has been being reserve at the AQHA Novice West Championships in equitation and halter. We have also won several all-around titles and were finalists in the showmanship at Congress. As far as future plans, I want to keep showing him and doing what we love.”
And what does Brown love the most about showing? “I love competing with horses because it is a team effort. You have to have good communication with your horse in order to be successful. Somedays it’s the rider and other days it’s the horse, but when it comes down to it, you are a team and you compete as one–that is the most challenging part and that is why I love showing.”
This year will be Taylor’s sixth trip to the Youth World. “I love the show because it is fun and there is a bunch of people that you can meet from all over the United States and awesome people from other countries as well,” Taylor states. “My goal for this year is to just have fun and have good patterns and runs with my horses. I hope to make it to the finals in most of my classes and maybe get another championship.”
GoHorseShow wishes Taylor the best of luck with Axle, Hamilton, and her reining horse in Oklahoma City. CLICK HERE to check out her ad in the July issue of GoMag.
