64 SIDELINES JANUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
win’ thing. And Val has always been an escape for me. I love to
take him on hacks near the house and do trot sets, ride for an hour
or so. He’s a good mentor.”
In the summer of 2011, Val was going great when he hit his
hind legs on a fence on the Preliminary course during the USPC
championships in Lexington, Kentucky. A c-shaped fracture of
his tibia resulted in stall rest for several months. While Val was
recuperating, Jennifer started riding I Love Lucy, an Irish Draught
mare who had competed at the lower levels with owner Pam
Blumberg. Lucy was turned out, doing nothing, and then along
came Jennifer. They spent some time schooling and conditioning
and ran Training twice in the early spring. Jennifer and Lucy
capped off their preparation for the A test with two Preliminary
competitions, the fnal one in mid-June on home turf, Seneca
Valley Pony Club’s Spring Horse Trial.
Jennifer took the horsemanship test in late June, earning her
HA, and in early July rode Lucy to become the frst Seneca Valley
pony club rider in 12 years to achieve the A rating. Potomac Hunt’s
joint-master of foxhounds Vicki Crawford fgured it had been 25
years since a junior member scored the A-rating.
“I’m still hunting – it’s been a blast,” said Jennifer. “My house
is right in middle of Potomac’s country. I’ve gotten to know some
great people and they’ve watched me grow up. We had a party
after my A at the hunt kennels and invited about 100 people:
members of the Potomac Hunt, Seneca Valley Pony Club, and
from the dressage barns. It was a beautiful party, a ‘thank you’
party. I could not have gotten anywhere without all those people
and my peers. Everyone had some words of advice – without that
I couldn’t have done what I did. It’s amazing what happens when
a community pulls together to help one person.”
The moral of this tale: You can be a working student and
accomplish your heart’s desire. You just have to be willing to roll
up your sleeves.
Kiki Umla
was honored
at the 2012 Alltech National
Horse Show with the Welles
Family Trophy in recognition
of Service to the Equestrian
Industry.
Peter Welles
(left)
presents the Welles Family
Trophy to Kiki at the Alltech
National Horse Show. Umla
is joined by daughters
Linda and Wendy
, as well
as
Mason Phelps, Jr.,
the
President of the National
Horse Show Association.
Photo by Shawn McMillen
Photography.