EC Youth Profile – Kaitlyn Bloom
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254 – November/December, 2022
By Susan Winslow
There is a wonderfully descriptive phrase in the American lexicon that traces its roots to Texas: all hat and no cattle. California native Kaitlyn Bloom, a freshman at Texas A&M University, can be proud of the fact that she is the real deal and the opposite of that famous idiom: she’s a horseman who truly is all hat and plenty of cattle.
Raised on her family’s pack station in Sonora, California, Bloom was immersed in horses from day one, participating in 4-H and leading day-long trail rides for would-be cowpokes at a young age. She is a farm-strong young woman who now hails from Bonanza, Oregon, where her family has a thriving cattle ranch.
Her family consists of her parents, Amanda and Josh Bloom, and her siblings Madelyn, William, and Aubrey. Reflecting on a childhood that any horse person would envy, Bloom says, “I have been riding ever since I could remember. I grew up at a pack station where we were leading rides and taking people into the wilderness on horses. In our family, horses are our life–from being young and taking customers on rides to raising horses for work on our cattle ranch today. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t get to be with these amazing animals. As soon as I turned 9 years old and was able to compete, I started competing at the 4-H level. The older I got, the more I fell in love with showing and we moved my horse to a local trainer and moved up to the local level.”
As her skills advanced, Bloom moved to trainers that competed on the national stage. Riding with Shannon McCulloch, Bloom has achieved major success with her 9-year-old gelding, I’m A Lazy Cowboy. Her titles include Reserve Champion Equitation at the 2021 All American Quarter Horse Congress, 2022 Champion in All-Around Youth at A Sudden Impulse, Youth Horsemanship Champion at A Sudden Impulse, Reserve World Champion Youth Trail at the 2022 NSBA World Show, and Bronze Champion Youth Equitation at the 2022 NSBA World Show.
Click here to read the complete article
254 – November/December, 2022
