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WINONA LAKE - Katie Grossnickle, 13, Winona Lake, recently had the "time of her life" as one of the youngest competitors in the 29th Annual American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show and Convention in Fort Worth, Texas.
Grossnickle participated in the show among 2,000 youths, ages 18 and under, from the United States, Canada and several other countries. She competed with her American Quarter Horse "Shot to the Top," a 10-year-old bay gelding, in western pleasure, western horsemanship and English equitation.
Grossnickle was the lone participant from the Warsaw area, with only 22 kids in Indiana invited to participate.
Lori Grossnickle, Katie's mother, said her daughter participated in a "Parade of States" with Indiana participants wearing matching shirts and jackets. She also participated in a stall- decorating contest with the "Indy 500" as their theme for decorating.
"Although we did not place (in the stall-decorating contest)," Lori said, "the kids enjoyed doing it."
One category Katie and Indiana participants did place in was their state youth team scrapbook, taking fourth place.
"Indiana did very well overall in performance classes," Lori said. "Many of our team members placed in the top 10, with one girl taking a second place in Hunt Seat Equitation."
As for Katie, one of the youngest participants, "(she did) much better than we had anticipated," Lori said.
"We're going for fun," Lori said earlier. This was Katie's first year in the competition, and "she understands she's very young. We're going to have a good time."
But besides having a good time, "Katie did very well," Lori said. She tied for 20th place out of 124 participants in her western horsemanship class. Lori explained that only the top 20 are kept and Katie missed it "by virtue of using one of the five judges' scores for the tie-breaker."
Although Katie was heartbroken at coming so close, "she was genuinely pleased at doing so well and can't wait to go back next year," Lori said.
The trip was a success, and Lori, who had never been to Texas, was able to experience the state while cheering her daughter on at competition.
Although missing the top 20 by one tie-breaking vote, Katie didn't go home empty-handed.
"She was chosen to represent the state again in western horsemanship at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, in October," Lori said. Katie will be participating in the National Youth Activity Team Tournament, where six different events take place and an overall score is posted. Katie, along with the other participants, will again participate in a Parade of States Oct. 14.
Future competition for Katie is still running high. She will compete in a four-day show in New Castle Labor Day weekend and yet another competition, "the featurities," also in New Castle, the third weekend of September. Katie will ride in the young horse competition, which uses horses age 2 and 3. In this competition, Katie will be riding with mostly adults.
Overcoming a "long and hot" 20-hour trip paid off for Katie as she was able to experience competition at such a young age in such an elite world championship show/convention. But, with two trailer tires blowing out on the way home, setting the Grossnickles back a few hours, Katie and Lori were glad to return to their home in Winona Lake.
Katie is the daughter of Steve and Lori Grossnickle and is in the eighth grade this fall at Lakeview Middle School.
