Kina Tavary – More Than Meets the Eye

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132 – March/April, 2018

By Kristen Spinning

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. The same can be said of any top Quarter Horse show in the nation. It take years of practice, and getting dumped in the dirt a fair number of times, before one can consistently shine among the terrific talent in the top echelon of the horse industry. When newcomer Kina Tavary exploded onto the show scene in recent years, it was easy to assume she was just another pretty blonde who decided on a whim she wanted to start showing horses.

When she started winning with her flashy, black gelding, Pass The Black Gold, she was dubbed an “overnight success.” The funny thing about assumptions is that they’re often wrong: there was nothing “overnight” about Kina’s journey. Nobody knew about the years Kina spent riding hand-me-down horses. They never saw her looking bedraggled, in the pouring rain, at countless 4-H shows. They also didn’t know that Kina doesn’t fret over other people’s assumptions. The colorful, self-described extremist is solely focused on one goal: to ride her absolute best every time she enters the pen to compete.

Kina’s mother, Karen Tavary, was a pretty good Barrel Racer in her day. She fostered Kina’s enthusiasm for horses from an early age. When Kina was 12, her mom found her a 16.2 hand Appaloosa that Kina laughingly admits, “wasn’t really fit for a twelve-year-old.” She recalls one of her first rides. “He took off with me, my saddle turned, and I was dragged. It was this whole chaotic mess.” Still, she persevered. Her mom had instilled in her a work ethic to get back on and overcome fears. While that first horse didn’t really work out, she eventually took on a little Quarter-Arab cross that nobody wanted. She recalls, “We kept him at our house. Every single day, I would be out there grooming, mucking, and riding. It was my entire life.” Kina tried everything on that gelding, from English and Western to building a makeshift jump course in the pasture. “My parents didn’t have a lot of money, but they were eager to support my interest. My dad was just so happy that I was into horses and not into boys!” That gelding came along so well with Kina that his owners wanted him back. Kina received another hand-me-down horse and taught him Showmanship and Trail. She didn’t have a trainer. It was just Kina, a horse, trial and error, and dedication.

Kina and her mom hauled to 4-H and schooling shows in Washington to compete in all-around events. She wistfully recalls, “We were always the first ones there. Our horses were always immaculately groomed, even for these little open shows. It would be raining. It would be snowing. It would be windy. It didn’t matter to us.” She cherishes those days and looks back on them as being influential to her success today.

Click here to read the complete article
132 – March/April, 2018