Hi, my name is Kaylee Hamm, and I am a member of Alpha Delta Pi! When I was just 10 years old my grandparents had asked me if I wanted to show horses, and without even questioning my decision, I said YES! To be honest, I didn’t know what I was going to get myself fully into, as my sister had only been showing horses for just under two years, but I thought well, all my other friends play sports, so this would be my sport. Now when I tell people I show horses many people think I ride horses or ride horses like in a rodeo…. But that is a little bit far off from what I do. In fact, I show Halter horses. Now, you are probably thinking, “What is a Halter horse?” The best way I like to explain that to people is a mix between a dog show and a bodybuilding competition. These Halter horses are judged and compete against other horses based on their conformation/form and looks as a horse.
I began to travel to many different states, like Texas, Ohio, Indiana, and Oklahoma, to go to horse shows, and it slowly but surely became everything I loved to do! If I go back to the first big horse show which was the AQHYA World Championship Show I can vividly remember that I was shaking in my boots, literally and figuratively. At The World Championship show, you show in this huge arena with a huge jumbotron and all these lights. Let me just tell you, I was scared because my horses were not used to this arena. The time came and I was about to go show with my first horse, and as I walked into the arena and all these lights were on me I knew this was my moment to show off everything I had worked for all year. Every time I showed it felt like forever. It seemed like hours went by waiting to be told, “exhibitors you may retire to the rail”, which just meant that we were done being judged and had to wait for the scores to be totaled. I can remember this next moment like the back of my hand…they started announcing the placing and went from finalist down to 10th place and then to top five. I was beyond shocked to know that I have gotten a place in the top five since this was my first show and there were many other exhibitors who had more experience than me. Continuing on with the placing, top three started being announced and then it was down to two…And then second place was announced…then first place was announced, “Please congratulate your 2010 AQHYA Aged Gelding World Champion… RPL My Te Cheerful and Kaylee Hamm” That day was the best day of my life and one I will remember forever!
From this day forward I knew that showing halter horses was going to be what I loved and continued to do as long as I had the opportunity to. With Halter horses the different classes are based on their age and gender: Weanling is under one, Yearling is a one year old, and then Two Year Old, Three Year Old and the last age group is Aged which is four years and older. I am beyond grateful to my grandparents as they bought all different age horses so that I can show them. With all these horses I have shown over the years, it might be nearly impossible to name every single horse’s registered name and their barn name.
Now as I am almost 21 years old, I have been out of the Youth Division since I was 18 years old but am lucky enough to have closed that chapter in my life with amazing memories and lessons I have learned. The biggest take away I will carry with me is the accomplishments I came away with, which includes many awards from small shows to big shows… but I am altogether proud to say that I am a 12 time AQHYA World Champion and a multiple time AQHYA Reserve World Champion.
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