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California Riding Magazine • July, 2009 Horse People: Haley Webster by Kim F. Miller |
In the 30-plus years that Patty Ball has been a hunter/jumper trainer, she’s seen hundreds of young riders come and go. When then 9-year-old Haley Webster arrived four years ago at Ball’s Hunterville barn in the Sacramento area’s Penryn, the veteran trainer took special note. “The day she sat on her first horse, it was uncanny,” Ball recalls. “She is just one of those people who was born for horses.” In addition to her passion for the sport, the now 13-year-old Webster has natural talent, compassion for the horses, and a family that’s happy to support her equestrian dreams. In short: “all the right ingredients to go as far as she wants to with horses,” Ball concludes.
Webster, too, knew horses were her thing after her first visit to Hunterville and she’s proven that repeatedly, both in the show ring and in her life between competitions. Last October, at 12, she won the Nor-Cal Junior Medal Finals, a 3’6” event open to riders 17 and under. She finished third in the Onondarka Medal Finals last fall and began this year by earning the Ronnie Mutch Scholarship and scoring two weeks of Equitation Championships while making the most of the Scholarship’s opportunity to ride with Karen Healey at Thermal. Outside of the show ring, Webster made a grown-up decision last fall to become home schooled so she could keep up equally with her equestrian and academic education. She typically spends all day at Hunterville, riding her own horses and “anything else I put her on,” notes Ball. “She is more dedicated than any kid I’ve seen,” the trainer continues. “She cleans tack, bathes horses, really anything I ask her to do. If it involves horses, she’s happy.”
Two of Webster’s three horses were for sale at presstime, a result of her coming transition into the higher jumper divisions. This includes her first horse, Belladonna, the mare that took her through the 3’ Childrens Hunter ranks. “I’m hoping somebody will lease her, so she’ll come back to me,” Webster admits of the difficult prospect of selling any horse and especially her first. Yet she understands that parting with equine friends is part of moving on in the sport. Her first 3’6” mount, Giovani, “has been the best horse for me,” Webster relays, but he’s for sale, too. Her keeper is Luciano, a mount originally bought as a hunter for Webster’s mother, Rona, but converted to an Equitation champ under Haley’s hand. Qualifying for the Maclay and the USEF Hunt Seat Medal finals top Webster’s goals for this year. If she makes it to either of these Indoors circuit finals, gaining that kind of mileage will be her main goal. “I’d really like to have that experience before I start the bigger medal classes and while I’m still young,” she explains. As soon as the right jumper prospect comes along, she’ll be making her moves in that division, too, in keeping with her big picture goals of riding professionally and representing the U.S. in international competition. Webster and Ball connected through the sad circumstances of the funeral for the trainer’s mother. Rona Webster had ridden with Ball herself many years ago and, at the services, mentioned that she had a daughter. Ball casually suggested that the youngster be brought out for a lesson and things snowballed from there. Since then, Ball has become “kind of a second mother,” Haley Webster says fondly. “She’s a fabulous trainer and I like her a lot.”
Flatwork is the foundation of Ball’s program and Webster appreciates that. “Even when we are just hacking on our own, Patty has ingrained into our heads that we need to have our horses where we want them at all times,” the young rider relates. “You never stop learning,” is a phrase all of Ball’s students are keenly familiar with and a conviction that guides Webster’s horsemanship education. Ball makes a point of exposing her riders to outside instructors, especially students with talent and drive like Webster’s. Hunter/jumper icon George Morris visits Ball’s barn yearly for clinics. “He doesn’t normally like to take students younger than 12, but Haley first rode with him when she was 10 and has continued to every year since,” Ball reports. “Especially for someone like her, I don’t think one person can do the whole job. I think it’s best to seek out the best instruction, and from different people.” Most recently, Webster had the chance to clinic with 1984 Team Olympic gold medalist Melanie Smith as part of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Assn.’s inaugural Emerging Athletes program. “She was nice and tough,” Webster says of riding with Smith. “She made it clear she wanted us to get the job done.”
Webster and her horses have the happy task of getting the job done decked out in Devoucoux Saddlery gear. She was approached by the company earlier this year and is thrilled to be one of the few young riders and even fewer Northern California riders the saddlery sponsors. Ball describes her young charge as a gracious winner and notes that she makes a point of pitting Webster against tough competition. “She has the ability to win a lot, so we go where the competition is a little stiffer to make sure she keeps growing as a rider.” Webster thanks her trainer, her family and all the girls who help out at Hunterville, where the younger riders idolize her. “I just don’t know how I’d do without horses,” Webster reflects. “I’m so happy and I’m so lucky that I get to do all this.”
To follow Haley Webster’s equestrian adventures, visit www.haleywebster.com. |
