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World Ranch Horse Show champion and CORE sophomore Zoe Martinez, is a celebrity in our midst. On October 1-5, Zoe took home 5 world champion titles, 1 reserve champion title, and multiple top 5 world titles at the WRHA world ranch horse show. The award that Zoe is most proud of is the Highpoint Ranch
Horse Youth award, because it is the highest in her division. Zoe trains the horses, teaching them all the maneuvers they would need to do on a ranch, and then shows them. Despite the waning interest in the equine industry, Zoe is proud to be “one of the youth that actually goes and competes.” Futurity year horses, ages four and under, are the main age range she usually works with. She loves working with the four-year-olds, but shows two and three-year-old horses in open classes at a high level as well. The horse riding classes are based on horse age; four years and under are called the Futurity years and they are the youngest able to compete, while five and six-year-olds are called the Derby years.
Zoe got her first horse when she was seven, and currently has two horses of her own. Ellie, an older mare, is a sassy horse that Zoe’s had for a long time. Toby is four-years-old, almost a Derby horse, and “quite the goofball.” He also likes to buck, and she has to get past him being weird and quirky. “Since they are animals, they kinda have a mind of their own, so I never know who’s gonna show up the day that I go to ride them,” Zoe said, explaining the difficulties of showing horses. She explains that while she can have physical control over a horse, she can never fully control its mind. When she enters the show ring, she does not know if her horse will get spooked or run off. This is especially true of the young horses that she works with because their brains are not fully developed. Though working with horses can be strenuous and unpredictable, there’s also camaraderie. “They try their hardest to work their best with you,” Zoe said.
