6-year-old Charylet Davin Lee is Youngest Exhibitor Competing at 2013 AQHYA World Show

Earlier in the week, we had the opportunity to meet the adorable and spunky 6-year-old Charylet Davin Lee, who is the youngest exhibitor competing at the 2013 AQHYA World Show this year. Hailing from the great state of Texas, this tiny equestrienne loves to go fast and state qualified to compete in Youth Barrels, Stake Race, and Pole Bending at her first trip to the Youth World Show.

Her trusty mount for the competition was Sols Cagney Cash, a 22-year-old bay mare by Docs Poco Sol and out of Diabolo Beauty. The pair posted clean runs in all of their events. They ended up with a time of 99.999 in Stake Race and tied for 46th place in the prelims. They scored a time of 23.244 in barrels and placed 63rd in the prelims. In Pole Bending, the dynamic duo marked a 35.362 and placed 56th in the prelims.

The day following her Youth World Show debut, we sat down with Miss Charylet to chat about her first experience competing in Oklahoma City and her beloved horse “Ponytail.”

“I call her Ponytail,” she says. “But her registered name is Sols Cagney Cash. We did barrels, poles, and stake race and did good. She was really fast.”

“My dad is a trainer, but he has another trainer named Mr. Juan. He only trains at the house with us.”

We later learned from Charylet’s mother, Amy, that the patriarch of the family is actually an FBI agent by trade. However, Charylet still insists that her daddy is a horse trainer.

Charylet’s siblings, 11-year-old Claire and 13-year-old Charles, are also competing at the Youth World Show this year. Claire showed in Team Penning with Code Of Command, aka”Commander,” and placed 30th in the prelims. Charles showed Peppilena to a 55th place finish in the Ranch Horse Pleasure prelims. According to Charylet, she also helps to train her brother’s horse.

“I have horses that are really fast, and they told me to do barrel racing and stuff,” she says. “I just do [cutting] with my brother’s horse. I’m training her. We have a Pro Cutter, and we cut it a lot of times. I don’t have a trainer, but I just train my horse and his horse. She is a cutting horse, but I use her for a working cow horse.”

“I taught [Ponytail] how to do barrel and poles. It was hard.”

Charylet has a very special pre-competition ritual that she uses to help Ponytail run fast, but we had to promise not to tell too many people. Before each run, Ponytail is allowed to drink Gatorade. Apparently, that is what gives the 22-year-old mare her blinding speed.

Caption: Charylet heads off to give Ponytail a bath.

Although her horse is very fast, Charylet says she never gets nervous or scared, even if she falls off. In fact, when she is a little older, Charylet might want to become a horse trainer herself.

“I’ve fallen off before,” she says. “I get hurt, and I get back on.”

Although Charylet would’ve liked to have won a ribbon, she is definitely enjoying her first trip to the Youth World Show. She likes all of the superhero stall decorations and was very excited to wear her sparkly turquoise outfit that perfectly matches her horse’s leg wraps.

We also had the chance to speak to Amy Lee about her young daughter’s desire to be a speed star.

“Horses have always been a family thing,” Lee says. “In 2009, my dad had a stallion at the World Show. We’d always shown growing up in local stuff like 4-H. He bought his stallion and took it to the World Show three times. We started with halter. My son was a finalist every year, and then he decided to start riding.”

“He started with cow horse stuff, which is becoming a more popular event. This is our fourth year at the Youth World Show.”

Lee says tiny Charylet won her division at a recent San Antonio horse show. After that performance, Lee and her husband promised their daughter that she could compete at the Youth World Show this year if she worked on picking up her times.

“She really put a lot of work into it,” Lee says. “And this horse has been a blessing. The day before [she competed], there was a reiner in the practice pen, and it smashed right into her. The horse really took care of her.”

Because Charylet is so small, we wondered if her parents ever worry for their daughter’s safety. Lee, a registered nurse by trade, gave us an insightful reply.

“She’s always wanted to go fast,” Lee says. “I’m a nurse by trade, so I see a trampoline and I think spiral fracture or neck injury. I can think of all these horrendous things. Yet with my kids and our horses, I guess we put so much trust in them that they won’t get hurt.”

“Once you put faith in your horse, you relax a bit about it. I think I get more nervous for her that she isn’t going to do well, because she gets disappointed, but as far as injury we’ve been very blessed.”

Caption: Charylet poses with her sister Claire in front of Ponytail’s stall.

Although Charylet didn’t make it back to the finals in her classes, Lee was surprised to learn that some of her daughter’s times were fairly competitive.

“She beat about 20 people in the Barrel Racing,” Lee says. “Her time was actually competitive. I was really impressed. At this level, what is so interesting is that it’s a hundredth of a second that brings you back to the finals. It was really interesting to see that her times were decent.”

Congratulations to Miss Charylet on her first trip to the AQHYA World Show!