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Girl’s Time To Shine
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| Fifteen-year-old Spring resident Julia Swyden won the trail pleasure youth two-gait at the NWHA's National Show in Murfreesboro, Tenn., last week. |
By STEPHEN WHITFIELD
When she was 7 years old, Julia Swyden rode a horse for the first time at a winter camp.
Eight years have passesdsince that moment, and she still hasn’t stopped riding.
Last week, the Spring resident took part in the National Walking Horse Association’s National Show in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Riding in a crowded field of more than 300 riders in nearly 100 events, the 15-year-old is hardly perturbed by her surroundings.
“I’m used to showing with these guys,” Swyden said. “Once I get in there, it’s just me and the horse and the loudspeaker.”
Swyden was born in Spring to a well-traveled family. Her father, Charles, served in the U.S. Army and, after leaving the service in 1982, began working for the Customs Department.
Charles Swyden’s job took his family to Edmonton, Canada, in 2003. There, Julia turned her love of horseback riding into a competitive pursuit by riding in small 4-H shows.
When Swyden moved to Brunswick, Ga., a year later, the competitive pursuit became an all-encompassing passion. She participated in shows up and down the Eastern Seaboard, including the Carolinas and Florida.
Things culminated for Swyden in 2006 when she won the Georgia state championship in the saddle seat class. At the ripe old age of 13, Swyden had arrived in the world of walking horse.
In April 2007, Swyden moved back to Spring. Since then, she has had a meteoric rise. A year after her return, she won the regional championship at the East Texas Gaited Classic Championship Show in Nacogdoches. In mid-June, she won the trail pleasure youth two-gait class at the Gaited Gala in Athens, Texas.
In both shows, Swyden rode Hill’s Secret Weapon, a horse owned by Dub and Linda Ivins of the Happy Hill Stable in Fort Worth. The Ivinses were so impressed with Swyden’s riding that they wanted her to ride the same horse at the NWHA’s National Show.
Even though there are no qualifying shows for the NWHA National Show, Swyden said her performances earlier this year helped her get ready.
“The competition is so stiff here that if you weren’t getting first and second at the local shows, you wouldn’t stand a chance,” Swyden said. “I was seeing some really good horses that I knew that had some wonderful training and they aren’t even placing here.”
Swyden entered in nine classes - four preliminaries and five championship classes. She won the trail pleasure youth two-gait class and was seventh in the trail pleasure amateur two-gait.
Swyden’s schedule in Murfreesboro was very busy.
“We had to check the horses in their stalls,” Swyden said. “You get up early, you feed the horses, you work them, get ready for your classes, come back out and try and relax before you head back out again.”
Swyden is home-schooled, which allows her to train five mornings a week while still maintaining a decent academic workload.
Even though she is a champion in walking horse competition, Swyden does not train regularly in walking horse. Instead, she trains in dressage at the Once Upon a Horse Stables near Stafford.
In three years, Swyden will be ready to move on to college, but beyond that she has even bigger goals in competitive horse riding.
“I don’t know if I’ll be good enough by then, but I’d really love to ride in the 2016 Olympics in dressage,” she said.
Eight years have passesdsince that moment, and she still hasn’t stopped riding.
Last week, the Spring resident took part in the National Walking Horse Association’s National Show in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Riding in a crowded field of more than 300 riders in nearly 100 events, the 15-year-old is hardly perturbed by her surroundings.
“I’m used to showing with these guys,” Swyden said. “Once I get in there, it’s just me and the horse and the loudspeaker.”
Swyden was born in Spring to a well-traveled family. Her father, Charles, served in the U.S. Army and, after leaving the service in 1982, began working for the Customs Department.
Charles Swyden’s job took his family to Edmonton, Canada, in 2003. There, Julia turned her love of horseback riding into a competitive pursuit by riding in small 4-H shows.
When Swyden moved to Brunswick, Ga., a year later, the competitive pursuit became an all-encompassing passion. She participated in shows up and down the Eastern Seaboard, including the Carolinas and Florida.
Things culminated for Swyden in 2006 when she won the Georgia state championship in the saddle seat class. At the ripe old age of 13, Swyden had arrived in the world of walking horse.
In April 2007, Swyden moved back to Spring. Since then, she has had a meteoric rise. A year after her return, she won the regional championship at the East Texas Gaited Classic Championship Show in Nacogdoches. In mid-June, she won the trail pleasure youth two-gait class at the Gaited Gala in Athens, Texas.
In both shows, Swyden rode Hill’s Secret Weapon, a horse owned by Dub and Linda Ivins of the Happy Hill Stable in Fort Worth. The Ivinses were so impressed with Swyden’s riding that they wanted her to ride the same horse at the NWHA’s National Show.
Even though there are no qualifying shows for the NWHA National Show, Swyden said her performances earlier this year helped her get ready.
“The competition is so stiff here that if you weren’t getting first and second at the local shows, you wouldn’t stand a chance,” Swyden said. “I was seeing some really good horses that I knew that had some wonderful training and they aren’t even placing here.”
Swyden entered in nine classes - four preliminaries and five championship classes. She won the trail pleasure youth two-gait class and was seventh in the trail pleasure amateur two-gait.
Swyden’s schedule in Murfreesboro was very busy.
“We had to check the horses in their stalls,” Swyden said. “You get up early, you feed the horses, you work them, get ready for your classes, come back out and try and relax before you head back out again.”
Swyden is home-schooled, which allows her to train five mornings a week while still maintaining a decent academic workload.
Even though she is a champion in walking horse competition, Swyden does not train regularly in walking horse. Instead, she trains in dressage at the Once Upon a Horse Stables near Stafford.
In three years, Swyden will be ready to move on to college, but beyond that she has even bigger goals in competitive horse riding.
“I don’t know if I’ll be good enough by then, but I’d really love to ride in the 2016 Olympics in dressage,” she said.
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