All About Timing – Losing Your Favorite Equine Friend
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152 – January/February, 2017
BY BRITTANY BEVIS
Life is all about timing. Sometimes, it can work in our favor. In other cases, the lack of time we’re given seems cruel and unfair. But it’s our reaction to the events in life that ultimately make all the difference.
On one hand, this could be the heartbreaking story of a team that defied the odds during their first year in APHA competition, only to have the journey come to an abrupt end just prior to their World Show debut following the horse’s sudden death. Or, it could be the inspiring story of a devoted, young woman who worked three jobs to pay for her new horse and compete in the sport she loves and who’s simply grateful for the eight months they were able to spend together. You will have to decide for yourself; but, for Novice Amateur competitor, Sydni Childers, she chooses the latter.
All About Timing, aka “Phoenix,” was a 2012 APHA mare by All Time Fancy and out of Lopin With Honor. She’s described by her owner, Sydni, as a “beautifully-hearted creature that walked the world with elegance and purpose.”
“Phoenix had a personality that would light up the room and a natural show presence that you just cannot make,” Sydni says. “She was so very sweet and had a heart of pure gold. She was willing, intelligent, honest, hardworking, athletic, fancy-legged, and talented, to say the least. Of course, all of the great qualities came with quirks that were unique to her, but it was the perfect ratio for a talented performance horse. She had the heart of a champion, soul, and personality of an angel.” Phoenix wasn’t an angel in just her owner’s eyes.
She was equally beloved by everyone at Star Performance Horses. Sydni says, “She was adored by many and had nicknames from everyone: Nix, Phe Phe, Pheefs. Everyone’s favorite was the name her trainer, Cooper Evans, gave her: Princess Phe Phe.”
Sydni and Phoenix’s show career began January 1st, 2016 at the Copper Country Paint Horse Show in Arizona. But in actuality, the real story began much earlier when Sydni was just two years old. “I’ve been blessed with a great family and support system throughout my whole life,” she says. “When I was eight, my father passed away from surgical complications due to a chronic illness. That left my mother with five young children, who she successfully raised on her own. The following 12 years consisted
of many trials and errors, successes and losses, heartbreak and happiness, all building me into the strong woman that I’ve now become. Life wasn’t always easy, and my horses became my saviors through it all. I’ve been riding since I could hold on, at the age of two, and training and showing my own horse throughout my youth years in the 4-H horse program.”
152 – January/February, 2017
