WEEDSPORT - Kaitlyn Bello said she didn't know that she had won first place for Novice Youth Hunter Hack at her first All American Quarter Horse Congress national horseback riding competition in Ohio last month until they had announced her name.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Kaitlyn Bello, 14, at her home in Brutus, sits with medals, plaques and a jacket she received for horse showing. Bello won a championship at the All American Quarter Horse Congress National competition in Columbus, Ohio, and has qualified for the Youth World competition in Oklahoma next August.
Kaitlyn Bello, 14, at her home in Brutus, sits with medals, plaques and a jacket she received for horse showing. Bello won a championship at the All American Quarter Horse Congress National competition in Columbus, Ohio, and has qualified for the Youth World competition in Oklahoma next August.
“They got down to second, and then to first. I could hear my heart beating. I was so nervous. I honestly didn't think they were going to call my name at the Congress,“ said the 14-year-old from Weedsport.
“It was like all my dreams came true in that moment.”
Bello and her American Quarter Horse, Lady Ann Mellow won first place for the Hunter Hack competition - an exercise that requires two fence jumps and then flatwork if deemed a finalist - and placed in the top 10 and top five in five other classes in the 13-year-old and under divisions.
“I couldn't breathe,” she said of the feats. “I had a huge smile on my face. It was awesome.”
Bello competed in the congress held in Columbus, Ohio from Oct. 14 to Oct. 16. Her achievements in the six classes has qualified her for the Youth World competition in Oklahoma next August.
Bello's passion for riding horses began in an old indoor arena in Weedsport. She remembers looking at a photo of her at the age of 4 during her first ride on a horse, sharing a big western saddle with a family friend and circling around the arena.
“When I first rode, I just loved working with the horse,” she said. “I felt good, and I had no sense of competition.”
When she was 7, she entered a local open competition, and she's been a competitive rider ever since.
“After I won my first competition, even an open competition, I just wanted to keep going and keep riding. I got more intense as I kept going,” she said.
Over the years, she has had various trainers, but she said it was her current trainer Anita Gravener and amateur rider Steve Weltsek of Woodland Star Quarter Horses in Guilford that really prepared her for the national competition.
“We really wanted her to go there and have good rides,” said Gravener of the congress. “It was the first time that Kaitlyn and Annie were showing at the congress. We just wanted them to go, have a good ride and work on the things we've been doing all year.
“I knew that if she could put all the pieces together she would definitely have a chance to make top 10,” she added.
Bello did put all the pieces together. In her first congress, she garnered her first place win in Hunter Hack, ninth place in Youth Working Hunter, ninth place in Novice Working Hunter, fifth in Youth Equitation Over Fences, fifth in Novice Youth Equitation Over Fences and sixth in Youth Hunter Hack.
She said that there were about 70 riders in each class from around the nation.
“I was really happy that I had gotten all of my top 10s, but at the same time it didn't feel real,” she said. She didn't think that her first congress would lead to wins; rather, she saw the competition as an opportunity to gain experience so that by her next time around she would return to Weedsport with medallions.
But that scenario just wasn't the case for Bello. Instead of returning home empty-handed, she has six medallions for each top 10 - one in green, two in brown, two in pink and one last one in blue for first place - to display in her home.
Bello showed real consistency, Gravener said - consistency that earned her those medallions.
“Someone can go out and have one really nice trip and make a mistake during another ride,” she said. “And Kaitlyn did one consistent ride after another and that's what kept putting her in the top 10. We were really excited because that's really hard to do.”
Bello stood side by side with the other riders in each class waiting to hear if they had made the top 10. Excited and nervous, Bello said she blocked out the sound of officials announcing the prizes.
“It was all background noise,” she recalled. “I was in my own little world just hoping that they were calling my number next.”
“It was like all my dreams came true in that moment.”
Bello and her American Quarter Horse, Lady Ann Mellow won first place for the Hunter Hack competition - an exercise that requires two fence jumps and then flatwork if deemed a finalist - and placed in the top 10 and top five in five other classes in the 13-year-old and under divisions.
“I couldn't breathe,” she said of the feats. “I had a huge smile on my face. It was awesome.”
Bello competed in the congress held in Columbus, Ohio from Oct. 14 to Oct. 16. Her achievements in the six classes has qualified her for the Youth World competition in Oklahoma next August.
Bello's passion for riding horses began in an old indoor arena in Weedsport. She remembers looking at a photo of her at the age of 4 during her first ride on a horse, sharing a big western saddle with a family friend and circling around the arena.
“When I first rode, I just loved working with the horse,” she said. “I felt good, and I had no sense of competition.”
When she was 7, she entered a local open competition, and she's been a competitive rider ever since.
“After I won my first competition, even an open competition, I just wanted to keep going and keep riding. I got more intense as I kept going,” she said.
Over the years, she has had various trainers, but she said it was her current trainer Anita Gravener and amateur rider Steve Weltsek of Woodland Star Quarter Horses in Guilford that really prepared her for the national competition.
“We really wanted her to go there and have good rides,” said Gravener of the congress. “It was the first time that Kaitlyn and Annie were showing at the congress. We just wanted them to go, have a good ride and work on the things we've been doing all year.
“I knew that if she could put all the pieces together she would definitely have a chance to make top 10,” she added.
Bello did put all the pieces together. In her first congress, she garnered her first place win in Hunter Hack, ninth place in Youth Working Hunter, ninth place in Novice Working Hunter, fifth in Youth Equitation Over Fences, fifth in Novice Youth Equitation Over Fences and sixth in Youth Hunter Hack.
She said that there were about 70 riders in each class from around the nation.
“I was really happy that I had gotten all of my top 10s, but at the same time it didn't feel real,” she said. She didn't think that her first congress would lead to wins; rather, she saw the competition as an opportunity to gain experience so that by her next time around she would return to Weedsport with medallions.
But that scenario just wasn't the case for Bello. Instead of returning home empty-handed, she has six medallions for each top 10 - one in green, two in brown, two in pink and one last one in blue for first place - to display in her home.
Bello showed real consistency, Gravener said - consistency that earned her those medallions.
“Someone can go out and have one really nice trip and make a mistake during another ride,” she said. “And Kaitlyn did one consistent ride after another and that's what kept putting her in the top 10. We were really excited because that's really hard to do.”
Bello stood side by side with the other riders in each class waiting to hear if they had made the top 10. Excited and nervous, Bello said she blocked out the sound of officials announcing the prizes.
“It was all background noise,” she recalled. “I was in my own little world just hoping that they were calling my number next.”
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periwinkle wrote on Nov 2, 2007 12:41 PM: