Last year, Jessica A. Johnson was a world champion on the flat. This year, she put a little air into her win.

The teen from Pickerington, Ohio, rode Believe N Me to a world championship in equitation over fences August 10 at the 2007 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show, a natural follow-up to last year’s world championship in hunt seat equitation.

“It was a fun course,” Jessica said. “Just setting up the bending lines to ride at them direct, and then (focusing on) my equitation for the four-stride, and for the rollback, (I tried to) just have a good track to it and make it smooth.”

Jessica has only been riding “Pepsi” since December, and their aerial partnership didn’t really take wing until July.

“I took her to Florida (in January),” Jessica said, “and we had a good show. We weren’t quite as steady as we are now, but we had some good goes.

“Now, most every time, we have a pretty good go. Not perfect, but we pull it off.”

Jessica took it as a portent of success when she first saw the theme for this year’s Ford Youth World: Dream, Believe, Achieve.

“It’s funny, because her name kind of goes with the theme this year – Believe N Me,” Jessica said. “I was hoping, but anything can happen.”

Jessica isn’t sure what’s next for her and her 1994 bay mare by Mr Easy Stride and out of a Thoroughbred mare.

“I’m taking a year off,” she said. “I graduated last year, and I’m kind of deciding right now what I’m going to do.’

One thing she does know: Next year, she’s an amateur.