Taylor Searles and Hereicomagain Win AQHA Youth World Level 2 Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

When Taylor Searles rode Hereicomagain to score a monster 242 this afternoon in the 14-18 Trail preliminaries, she accomplished two things. First, she and “Chloe” marked the highest score going into the finals on Tuesday. Next, she set the bar for the Level 2 Finals that would take place later this evening. Because of the format, Taylor only showed once and her score carried over for the results of the L2 Finals. Seven hours later, Taylor and her 5-year-old mare were named the L2 Champions.

“She’s so talented and pretty to watch. I just have to sit there and put her in the right spots. She floats over the poles and is super smooth. She’s such a good loper and I think that really helps.”

Up until last year, Chloe had strictly been a Western Pleasure horse. But lately, she’s expanded her repertoire of classes to include Trail, Western Riding, and Horsemanship. Just last night, Taylor and Chloe made it back to a tough Horsemanship finals that will take place on Monday. Later in the week, Taylor will try her hand at what is sure to be a tough Trail finals course from Tim Kimura.

“He’s definitely saving it for the finals,” Taylor says. “Today, I wanted to make sure that I got my strides right. I was especially nervous at the end walk-overs, because it’s easy to take too small or too big of a step. I really focused on that.”

Taylor has shown Trail through her youth career, but she hasn’t competed in the class at the Youth World for three years. “I was just happy to make it through the pattern clean! It’s Trail and anything can happen. Any horse can win on any day. The horses here are so talented.”

In addition to the Horsemanship and Trail finals, Taylor will also show in Western Riding, Hunter Under Saddle, Equitation, Western Pleasure, and Showmanship.

As a member of the Auburn Equestrian team, she’s had the opportunity to take a bit of time this summer to focus on showing in AQHA competition to prepare for her final Youth World Show. She feels her experiences on the team have made her a better rider.

“I’m showing Chloe, a five-year-old, who really just started doing Horsemanship in May. Two and a half months later and we made it to the finals at the Youth World. My experiences on the team have really helped me to be able to guide a green those through a Horsemanship pattern.”