There is much to be said for little girls and their horses and on May 4-5th, 2001 at the Mid-Atlantic Horse Show we heard plenty of cheering for a special little girl and her 13 hand pony.

12 year old Chelsea Ames decided this was to be the year she would throw her hat into the show ring riding her 6 year old red chocolate Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse (KMSH) pony named Spirit.

However, before the cheering, show outfits, applause and ribbons, there was a lot of work to do. Spirit had one flaw … he only wanted to gait, and gait, and gait … so Chelsea had her work cut out for her. She was dedicated to Spirit and it soon became clear to anyone who watched that the girl and her pony were becoming a team … day by day the bond between them grew deeper … learning, teaching and trusting each other. The big day finally arrived and Chelsea had a bad case of the jitters. As the day progressed Chelsea’s confidence grew and so did her fan club; the cheers from the crowd became louder with each class they entered and won! In the end, all the hard work, time and patience paid off. The Blue 1st place ribbon and trophy went to #1017, Chelsea Ames and Spirit. The little girl dropped her head and hugged her very special horse. The frenzy of applause from the crowd was deafening as Chelsea and Spirit took their well deserved victory lap!