Santa Claus would tell you that Bailey Troutman has loved horses her whole life, just based on the fact that a pony was on the top of her Christmas wish list every single year.
Bailey eventually got a horse of her own, and now, at age 14, she has a new equestrian dream that’s about to come true, too.
This summer, years of riding lessons and hard work are paying off as Bailey and her horse, Barney – that’s Be Boppin’ Barney to the judges – have been invited to the American Quarter Horse Association’s (AQHA) Youth World Championship Show Aug. 2 through 10 in Oklahoma City. That’s like the World Series of horse shows for young riders.
Riders only get invited to the Youth World Show by earning enough points competing during the horse show season, and Bailey and Barney did just that with the help of their trainer Joshua Carr of Joshua’s Heritage Farm in Toano. Bailey has been training with Joshua for about two years now, and in that time she has earned many accolades and, more important to her, she’s going to the World Show.
“It’s so exciting to be going [to the competition], it’s a big deal,” says Bailey, who is getting ready to start Smithfield High School in the fall. “I started riding lessons when I was six. I was a little nervous at first, but that went away fast and I’ve been riding ever since. I’ve always loved horses.”
Riding became her passion pretty quickly after she started lessons, she says, and it wasn’t too long before she began competing in youth horse shows.
Bailey started competing in AQHA shows in 2010. This season she took home several circuit champion awards at Martinganza Quarter Horse Show in North Carolina and received a few circuit champions and a reserve circuit champion at the Tar Heel Triple Classic, one of the largest horse shows on the east coast.
Bailey also participated in the Virginia Classic in Lexington, where she received circuit awards, as well as the Spring Breakout show, where she also received a circuit champion.
Her parents Pam and Scott have been supportive the whole way, Bailey says. “My parents are really excited about this. They love going to shows with me, and helping out.”
They didn’t know anything about horses when she first started riding, “but they’re learning as they go along,” she says with a laugh. They had a lot of learning to do, too, as the family owns two horses now, which they board in Smithfield.
“I was so worried when she first learned to canter,” Pam recalls. “I was worried she would fall off, but she really loves it. She has since she first started.”
When she was 9, Bailey got her first horse, Sam, and it was love at first sight, Bailey says. Sam is a horse she rides in competitive dressage, a different style of competitive riding than she’ll be doing in the World Show.
She got Barney about three years ago. He’s a big guy, 17.2 hands tall, but Bailey says “he’s a gentle giant,” which seems true when you see the two together — he nuzzles her whenever she’s nearby and paws the ground and shows his teeth to get her attention in the stable.
Bailey has been focusing on two classes of competition for the World Youth Show: hunter under saddle, which is a non-jumping class that judges the horse’s movements and form; and hunt seat equitation, which judges the rider’s skill and form. Joshua says she’s absolutely ready for the big event.
“We went to several shows to prepare for this, and she’s worked hard the past two years getting ready for this show,” Joshua says of his pupil.
Joshua’s method of training includes lots of horse-in-hand work (such as walking the horse around the ring) that helps develop the bond between the horse and its rider, though he says Bailey and Barney are very attuned to one another.
“I also like to focus on what weaknesses I see and try to work on that, to help improve it,” Joshua says. “That way, it’s not always just doing the same routine.”
Joshua, a graduate student working on a degree in psychology, eventually wants to start a therapeutic riding program at his farm.
Bailey’s goal for her future is similar to Joshua’s – she wants to continue working with horses and one day become a trainer with her own farm.
Right now, though, everyone is focused on the big day. Bailey and Barney have another week or so to get ready, and then Bailey and her family and Joshua will be hauling Barney across the country on a 20-plus-hour drive to get to the big event.
“It’ll be a long way, but we’re ready,” Joshua said.
