It’s early on a Sunday morning in August, so early that it’s still dark outside. Kaitlin Campbell’s alarm sounds, and the 14-year-old climbs out of her warm bed. She’s on her way to a horse show, of course, but it’s not the Monmouth Horse Show (N.J.) where she’s been showing for the past three days. Campbell’s destination is Patty Miller Stables, but she’s not intending to compete.

Instead, Campbell, who trains with Miller, is helping the novice pony riders with grooming, tacking and preparing their ponies for the ring. Her day includes schooling ponies, adjusting stirrups, checking girths and cheering her small charges from the sidelines. It’s all part of Campbell’s commitment to riding and horsemanship, and a glimpse of the work ethic that she’s developed along the way.

“Kaitlin had the chance to ride in the jumper classic on Sunday at Monmouth, but she chose to work at Patty’s local horse show,” said her mother, Pat Campbell. “As a mother, this is what it’s all about–supporting the other kids. While it’s wonderful when we do well, learning to give to others is most important.”

There were many role models at the Wild Horsefeathers/USEF Pony Hunter Championships (p. 24), and Kaitlin was indeed one of them. She earned the grand and medium pony hunter championships with Rockette, and she piloted Dawned On Me to the large green pony hunter title. This wasn’t the first time Kaitlin had starred at the Pony Finals–she earned the grand green pony championship in 2004–but this was perhaps the most meaningful edition. Kaitlin proved her prowess in catch riding aboard Rockette, while she also confirmed her training abilities by starting Dawned On Me from scratch.

We’re often so caught up in who won what that some important aspects of the competition are lost in the excitement at Pony Finals. Jennifer Berol Bliss, who made history in winning both the grand and reserve grand championships at the 1999 Pony Finals, sent us an article about her experiences (p. 34) there and the hard work it took to realize her dream with her self-made ponies Believe In Magic and Hillcrest Blue Wishes. In the ensuing seven years since her victories, Jennifer realized how defining that event was in her life and how it’s shaped her as a person.

Like Jennifer, Kaitlin has worked her way up the ranks, spending countless hours in the barn, training, showing and selling green ponies to compete at this level. Kaitlin’s come a long way from her first Pony Finals experience in 2000 aboard Farnley Dolphin, when she went off course in the small pony over fences class. Since then she’s ridden many different ponies, some green, some problems and some made (including Jennifer’s Believe In Magic), which have carried her to ribbons, and, more importantly, have taught her valuable life lessons about commitment and responsibility.

This year one of Pat’s most cherished memories isn’t a blue-ribbon moment. Instead, it was Kaitlin’s performance in the Pony Medal Final, when she chose to ride her pony jumper, Magic BB. “She went into the second round and instead of riding the seven strides, she pulled and did eight, which wasn’t her plan,” said Pat. “But she came out of the ring and handled it beautifully. She petted BB, said she messed up, and put it behind her. To me, that’s a huge win.”

For the past several years, Pat’s kept a quote from tennis star Martina Navratilova as inspiration for Kaitlin: “The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” Now, she said proudly, Kaitlin has taken it to heart and memorized the words.

Tricia Booker