Go Big or Go Home
Pro photos from the APHA World Show – Ruehle Photographix
By Delores Kuhlwein
Just a few days ago, Tammy Miller Lee added this post to the 2024 APHA World Show Forum:
“I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone that has been so kind and helpful to this GREEN girl. My daughter had the BEST time at her FIRST WORLD SHOW! She’s ALREADY talking about next year! Thank you AGAIN! And safe travels and have a fabulous rest of your show.”
Tammy’s daughter, Sierra Lee, made her first APHA show appearance at this year’s APHA World Championship Show on the 2014 chestnut overo mare Big Shoes To Fill, aka “Penny,” or “Penny Poo-Poo,” by The Big Sensation and out of Shez Too Hot.
As a family that has only been involved in horses for a few years, they were definitely newbies to the Paint show scene, and much to their surprise and delight, the Lees found they were welcomed with open arms.
The Humble Beginnings
The story of the Lee family becoming a horse family isn’t lengthy – it’s rather brief, as it innocently began as horseback riding lessons just a few years ago.
“We’re brand new to the horse world in general,” says Sierra’s mom, Tammy. “Frank and I have two older sons who are graduated and gone, and with Sierra, we’ve tried dance, gymnastics, tennis, etc.” However, when the horseback riding lessons came along, that was the turning point, she says. “And here we are three years later.”
Sierra quickly became part of the KMR EQUESTRIAN Barn Family in Tomball, Texas, and her trainer, Kathy Rogers, encouraged her to show. Sierra just wanted to ride, but eventually she dipped her toe in the water.
“She was Grand Champion, so we started out by leasing a barn horse, and she continued to win and get better because we were at the barn every day at that point,” says Tammy.
When it was clear it was time to look for a horse, Kathy advised the family to be prepared to look at numerous horses before finding the right one. For some reason, Tammy kept gravitating toward Paints, and Kathy happened to know Trainer Mason Lyon. “I had been riding a Hanoverian,” says Sierra, and I had only thought of a specific type of horse in my mind, I never thought of owning a Paint.”
When Kathy put Sierra on Penny, frustration for both ensued since she had very different buttons than the horse Sierra had been riding, but thankfully, her owners, Julie and Summer Skrabanek let the family take her home on a trial.
“We were head over heels in love,” says Tammy, and so Penny became the Lee’s very own “Penny Poo-Poo.”
Both families stayed in touch and became friends, and when they crossed paths at a Hunter Jumper show not long ago, the Skrabaneks were so impressed with the duo, they suggested Sierra take Penny to the APHA World Show. “They’ve been so kind and helpful,” Tammy and Sierra explain.
A Close Call
Before the family knew it, the Saturday they were to leave for the APHA World Show loomed, but Sierra and Penny experienced their first major crash Thursday of the same week.
“Penny went down, she went down, and we thought she might have broken her wrist,” reveals Tammy. “It was all touch and go, but Sierra said she thought she’d be fine if we just wrapped it, so we headed this way. The fall was the biggest she’d had, and we had no idea how she’d do. We’re all proud of her in so many ways for doing as well as she did with the nerves and the pain.”
How did she do? “I was Reserve Champion in Youth 18 & Under Equitation Over Fences, which is kind of my jam, and the Fourth in both Youth 18 & Under Hunter Hack and Youth 18 & Under Working Hunter Over Fences,” says Sierra, who explains the experience in the arena itself.
“It went like pure silent, and I was in here with this big arena; the best part of going in the arena is the excitement and the adrenaline. You feel the joy that you made it this far,” she reveals. “I was proud of Penny, too, for how she handled my stress.”
An Extended Family
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Sierra won, including that of her trainer, Kathy.
In addition to the support of the Skrabaneks, and of their trainer, Kathy, and their barn, who showed up in droves to support them, the Lees learned the APHA community responded swiftly and with kindness whenever they needed help at the show.
“Because we knew so little, I felt guilty about bothering Julie with so many questions, so I joined the APHA World Show Forum and started asking questions,” says Tammy. “Any time I asked a question, it wasn’t just one person who would finally chime in; it would be multiple people, and there was never a time where I felt like anything I had to say was stupid.”
When she inquired about the art contest at the show, not only was she assisted by the APHA President herself, Kelly Boles Chapman, but APHA Chief Executive Officer Dave Dellin also texted Tammy with information.
Sierra adds that as she talked to exhibitors of all ages she didn’t know in her classes, she found this each time: “I didn’t know any of them, and they were so nice. It made me feel a lot more comfortable, too.”
A Clear Path
Sierra’s experience this year definitely set the tone for her future – APHA World Show 2025 is in their sights; in fact, “It’s all we’ve talked about!” says Tammy.
In addition, the girl who has always been shy found the courage last year to compete in a beauty pageant. “The reason she mustered the confidence was because of riding horses,” says Tammy, a former Mrs. Texas. “I’ve always been a glitz and glammy girl, but never how she is,” laughs Sierra. They’re off to America’s Most Beautiful Pageant next week, with Sara competing as Miss Junior Lone Star, an appropriate title for a young lady who is always reaching for the sky.
“Reach for the sky, it’s not as high as it seems. Just follow your heart go as far as your dreams.”— Brooke Allison.
