Share and Share Alike

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178 – July/Aug, 2016

By Delores Kuhlwein

Ever since childhood, we’ve been encouraged to share with others. Each of us can recall being asked to share our food, our toys, and even intangibles like our time and goodwill.

However, when it comes to our most prized possessions, our show horses, is sharing even possible? It certainly is, if you ask competitors like Jamie and Natalia DeVencenty, Lori and Katie Grossnickle, and Becky Borders and EB Combs. While it’s not easy all the time, they’re convinced that the benefits far outweigh any disadvantages.

REASONS FOR SHARING

Deciding to share a horse is often part of a planned journey; other times, it’s the only option, or it simply makes the most financial sense.

In the case of Vineland, Colorado residents Jamie DeVencenty and her daughter, Natalia, it was the loan of an all-around AQHA bay gelding named Chex Is the Choice that resolved a predicament. “Due to an injury to my horse, I wasn’t going to be able to compete at the Level 1 Novice World Championship Show in Las Vegas until Natalia and my trainer, Kelly McDowall, suggested that I take Chex,” Jamie says. “Natalia and I rarely share our horses with each other, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse!”

For Becky Borders of Frisco, Texas, and her daughter EB Combs of Denver, who also ride with McDowall, the sharing of Becky’s gelding, Let’s Be Radical, aka “Stanley,” in 2015 was a representation of their longtime, collaborative relationship with horses. Their habit of sharing began during EB’s early days at 4-H and local shows.

“When it was time for a new challenge, Terri King and her daughter, Jennifer, took us under their wing and helped us make the transition to AQHA,” Borders says. “We bought The Missouri Gent, aka Willie, and off we went all over Texas riding and showing the same horse.”

In the same way, mom Lori Grossnickle and daughter Katie have spent so much of their lives together with horses, it only seemed natural to share mounts for competition. “Katie and I both love showing. It has been our way of life since she was six,” Lori says. The Michigan residents, who live about 10 minutes apart, first shared a horse named Invitation in Black and are now sharing Always the Best Man, aka Jimmy or Slim Jim who stays in training with Brent Maxwell. “Jimmy is very special to us since we own his mom, Always Invite Holly,” Lori says. She shows the gelding in novice events while Katie shows in the amateur division.

Click here to read the complete article
178 – July/Aug, 2016