10 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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By Alessandra Shultz
Julia Campbell-Spatt, of Centennial, Colorado,
is small only in stature; she is a rising star in
the eventing world and already has a plethora
of big accomplishments to prove it. Besides
passing her Pony Club HA rating this summer,
she has garnered numerous national USEA
year end awards, won the American Eventing
Championship in 2009 and pinned in the
2010 North American Junior and Young Rider
Championships.
In her hiatus from the national circuit for the
last couple years, Julia has devoted her talents
to the eventing team at Otterbein University,
in Westerville, Ohio, and to her current project
mount: Ginnetts Manricko. Perhaps Julia’s
biggest accomplishment of all is her commitment
to making green horses into champions, which
she has done time and time again. Her patience
and devotion to her horses is marked by her
many successes at the regional and national
levels of eventing.
How did you begin your riding career?
I started riding when I was around 6 years old.
I’m the only rider in my family so I guess I just
caught the bug of loving horses at a young age!
I begged my family for lessons and started at an
English barn not too far from home. That barn in
particular was home to Platte Valley Pony Club
so I joined Pony Club once I was old enough (8
years old). Pony Club infuenced my start in the
sport of eventing and much of my riding career
as well. From there it was a lot of moving from
barn to barn trying out different trainers, which
I think gave me a lot of diversity in my training
from the beginning. I’ve been lucky to work with
some really amazing people from the start, so I’m
very grateful for that!
What are your goals in the horse world?
I have lots of plans and goals for the future. I
actually don’t own my own horse at the moment
so it’s hard to make goals that are too lofty. I like
to make ‘seasonal’ goals depending on the horse
I’m riding so that I have things to work towards.
Currently, my goal is to qualify and compete
the horse I am riding at the American Eventing
Championships - which I will be doing next
weekend! My next goal is to move this horse up a
level and see how things go. My goals for myself
are to compete at the Intermediate/2** level of
Eventing with sights set towards eventually
competing at Advanced. I would love to be able
to go back to the NAJYRC for the Young Rider
competition but doubt I will make it there before
Small but Mighty Eventer
Julia is all smiles after a clear trip on Tazmania.