BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, FIELD EDITOR
Cassidy Miller leads Eye L Be Good through performance halter mares.
Out of the many stars at the 2008 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show, one exhibitor shines in a special way. Like many young people, Cassidy Miller of Carlsbad, California, began riding at age 7. But her start was with a therapeutic riding instructor.
“She had a brain shunt,” Cassidy’s mother, Kellie, explained. “And when she woke up from the surgery, she was completely paralyzed on one side. And that was why she needed therapy.”
“When I started riding, my balance wasn’t quite right where it needed to be,” Cassidy said. “Therapeutic riding really helped me get my balance to where it needed to be for horse riding. It really helped out.”
Her horse interest sparked, Cassidy began taking lessons from AQHA Professional Horseman Sandy Arledge.
“We went to Sandy’s place in Del Mar and started leasing a horse and taking lessons,” she said. “I got started showing and competing, and I ended up buying a horse. He gave me the best four years of showing I could have.”
That was Dells Policy, a 1982 gelding by Dell Jiggs and out of Super Dice by Sir Quincy Dan, who was the 1993 youth reserve world champion in trail. The old campaigner helped Cassidy learn the ropes in trail, western riding, horsemanship, showmanship, and they tried western pleasure once or twice. He’s now retired.
Now 17, Cassidy is an experienced competitor on the California show circuit and has a new horse she got last summer – Eye L Be Good, a 1992 daughter of Zippos Mr Good Bar and out of Jackie Joann by Two Eyed Jack.
“At the beginning, she was kind of hard to get used to because I was so used to my old horse, and she felt so much different,” Cassidy said. “We had a lot of problems we had to work out, but now everything is right where it needs to be. We’re really doing good.
“She has really smooth lead changes and is a really smooth loper.”
Cassidy showed the mare in performance halter mares August 8.
“(Performance halter) is a lot of fun, and I’ve been practicing a lot at other shows, so I’ve really been excited about this,” she said. “I’ve really been looking forward to it.”
She also expressed thanks to the AQHA Executive Committee for making the changes that allowed kids like her to come to the Ford Youth World as a state qualifier.
