EC Amateur Profile – Katie Shepherd – A Soft Spot for Appaloosas
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422 – October 2019
By Susan Winslow
The Appaloosa horse has a fascinating history in America. Their origin on this continent extends back to the Spanish invasion of Mexico in the 1500s. As their movement grew northward, the distinctive breed, named for Idaho’s Palouse River, transformed the Nez Pierce nation from a localized agrarian people to a nomadic hunting powerhouse in the northwest. Their brightly spotted horses were prized possessions, and the breed remains synonymous with the culture of the West. The very qualities that made these horses the lifeblood of the Nez Pierce: their general good nature, durability, and incredible versatility, have made them a popular breed in most Western disciplines and the perfect first horse for a young equestrienne like Katie Shepherd.
Growing up as the only girl in a family of three boys, Alex (23), Devin (18) and Liam (13), Katie Shepherd of Norwell, Massachussetts, played sports and loved soccer, but her passion was horses. Katie is now a sophomore at SMU in Dallas, Texas, riding for the Regional Champion SMU Mustangs and pursuing a degree in Communications and Advertising. But, as a youngster, it was all about horses. Looking back fifteen years ago, little could her parents, Joel and Patricia, have imagined the exciting world of Appaloosas they were about to join. It was a world that would eventually include multiple Appaloosa horses, Youth World Championship titles, and a beloved 23-year-old show horse enjoying a luxurious retirement in their backyard.
Katie grins as she recalls her early obsession with horses. “Growing up, I was completely fascinated by them. I always like to joke that people call it the ‘horse phase’ that a lot of girls go through; but, for me, it turned out not to be a phase at all.” Katie’s parents found a local barn where she took lessons and, when it became clear by age seven that it wasn’t just a passing fancy, her parents bought her a horse named Pepper. She recalls, “Back then, we weren’t very educated about horses and we just thought Pepper was a pretty horse with spots, but he was actually a colored Appaloosa. Eventually, we moved him to a barn near our house called Jettset EnDevers where they had a lot of Appaloosas.” At Jettset, the family embarked on a steep learning curve under the guidance of farm owner and head trainer, Kim Devers, when Katie started showing Pepper as Black Hot Chili Pepper.
The cute horse that her parents bought for Hunter Under Saddle and just plain fun turned out to be a talented competitor. Katie says with pride, “He was a great first horse. I tried Barrels with him, but he just wanted to trot. I had a lot of fun with him; but, I outgrew him, and he has gone on to become a World Champion Walk/Trot Games horse with Sue Scobee, and he’s happy. I’m really lucky. Although my Mom wasn’t a rider, she always loved horses, so my parents were all in for me with this. Kim at Jettset EnDevers was wonderful to me. I learned so much riding with her. Her barn is right down the street from my middle school, so I’d be there almost every day, and I loved every minute of it. Arturo Maestas would often help our barn prepare for the Youth World and, when I decided that I wanted to get even better at the top level, we shipped my horses to Pilot Point, Texas to train.” The move to Maestas Show Horses paid off. Riding with Maestas, Katie won a 2013 ApHC Youth 13 & Under Showmanship Championship, 2017 Western Horsemanship 16-19 ApHC Year-End High Point Championship with Hez Too Ez, 2018 3rd place ApPHA Non-Pro Pleasure Maturity Championship with VS Walk The Line, and a 2019 ApHC All Around Non-Pro Championship with Hez Too Ez.
She has also won a 2012 World Championship in Western Showmanship 12 & Under, 2013 World Championship in English Showmanship 13 & Under, 2014 World Championship in Hunter Under Saddle 13-15, 2014 Reserve World Championship in Western Showmanship 13-15, 2014 NSBA World Championship in Color All Breed Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle, 2015 World Championship Huntseat Equitation 13-15, 2015 Reserve World Championship Hunter Under Saddle 13-15, 2017 ApHC Western Horsemanship 16-18 Youth Year-End High Point Championship, 2018 World Championship in Western Horsemanship 16-18, 2018 World Championship in Huntseat Equitation 16-18, 2018 Reserve World Championship in Hunter Under Saddle 16-18, 2018 Reserve World Championship in Western Pleasure 16-18, 2019 National Championship in Non-Pro Saddleseat Equitation, 2019 Reserve National Championship in Non-Pro Western Horsemanship, 2019 Reserve National Championship Non-Pro Pleasure Driving, and 2019 ApHC All Around Non-Pro.
This talented and highly decorated young competitor describes her experience with Maestas Show Horses. She says, “I’ve been riding with Arturo Maestas and Jesse Jones since I was thirteen years old, so I’ve really grown up with them. They are like family to me. Throughout high school, I’d fly down there from Boston about every other weekend and spend weeks with them in the summer training and on the road to shows. Now that I’m at SMU, they’re only about an hour away, so I can get there more easily.” She has a special connection with her champion horse, Hez Too Ez, which the family purchased from Jesse Jones. Katie readily admits with a laugh that “Gator”–as he is known in the barn–can be a challenge at times, but she loves his antics and knows him so well, she just takes it in stride. She says, “His barn name is Gator; because, when he was a baby, he tried to bite everything and everyone. He’s come a long way from those days, and he doesn’t do that anymore, but he has a lot of personality. He’s 13, but he acts like he’s four or five because he has so much energy. He’s incredibly versatile and talented, but he’s not one of those chill horses that just goes around, so he really has made me a better rider. We’ve really clicked, but I was in 13 & Under when I started showing him, and it was a steep learning curve. Now, I know what he’s going to do and we have a bond. My Mom and I laugh because he has a way of flicking his ears very forward, getting wide eyes, and he starts looking around at everything, so he looks like he’s not paying attention, but he really is. He’s just curious, and I love him. He has the first stall in the barn, and we keep his window open because he has to see everything.”
Katie had Play It Again Hunter as her Hunter Under Saddle mount from 2014 until he passed away in 2017. She recalls wistfully, “He was a once in a lifetime horse, and I’m thankful for the time I had with him, because he was such a beautiful mover, and he was a really great horse.” She still has a passion for Equitation classes and loves the challenge of learning and preparing for a pattern class. She explains her approach to pattern classes, “For the National shows, the patterns come out a few weeks before the show. We do the pattern right away at home, but Gator is really smart, and we don’t want him overthinking it. After I’ve done it a couple of times, I just practice the elements of it without putting it all together so he won’t anticipate. When the show comes around, I’ll do it once again just to be sure I have the circles and straight lines. Gator is so quick that when I get him in there, he never hesitates.”
She has also kept her other horse, four-year-old VS Walk the Line, known as “Malcolm,” with Maestas Show Horses. She says, “Malcolm is my Western Pleasure Horse, and we’ve had him for two years. We’re working on teaching him Western Riding, Trail, and Showmanship and he’s really coming along.” She thrives on the variety of challenges in the different disciplines and figuring out two such different horses. This variety has served her well on the SMU Equestrian Team where she juggles her time with her own horses while attending team practice three times a week. She explains, “Riding is such an individual activity that I love the experience of being on a team in a sport I love. The experience I gained riding with Arturo and Jesse has definitely helped me on the team; because, when you compete, you get the horse in a draw so you have to figure it out fast. My SMU coaches, McKenzie Lantz for Horsemanship and our Head Coach, Carol Gwin, are amazing and I’m having a lot of fun on the team.”
Her time management skills have been put to the test as this hard-working student juggles Mustang team practice, ApHC competitions with her own horses, rigorous studies, and a social life. However, she’s not only managing, but she’s thriving and finding a balance between work and fun. As a native New Englander, she enjoys spending time on her family’s boat off the Massachusetts coast, and she’s an avid Patriots fan. She’s also a huge Taylor Swift fan.
Katie is quick to point out that she couldn’t manage it all without a strong support network. She says, “My parents have been wonderful with all of this, and they even let me bring my 23-year-old horse, Mister, home to live in our backyard for a great retirement. I’m also grateful to Arturo, Jesse, and everyone at Maestas Show Horses for making me feel so welcomed and helping me reach my goals. After college, I’m not sure where I will end up, hopefully back in Boston with a career in advertising someday, but I know one thing. Horses will always be in my life.”
