Miniature Horse World Magazine | Page 30

2015 World Show Super Amateur Ailene Tarap If anyone had told me in 2013, that I would be showing Miniature horses and not Quarter horses, I would have told you that you were crazy. But here I am and I’m loving every minute of it. Ailene and husband, Paul, often compete against each other in the showring. M y name is Ailene Tarap and I live in Napa, California with my husband, Paul and our brood of kids. We are cattle people at heart showing in the off months at cattle shows. We raise Belted Galloways and our kids show club calves. Also, as all good Napans do, we have 40 acres of grapevines. In my professional life, I’m a dental hygienist. I picked this profession because I knew I would always have the weekends off to show horses! Horses have always been a part of my life. As a preteen, I traveled with my uncle to Hackney and Shetland shows and as a late teenager, I started showing Quarter horses. My journey with the Miniature horses began in 2013, while browsing the farm and garden section of Craigslist, of all places. I saw a mini driving gelding for sale not far from where we live. Since I was somewhat familiar with driving ponies from helping my Uncle, I said to my husband Paul, “Let’s go look at him! Wouldn’t it be fun to drive down the road for coffee?” Of course, he thought I was crazy, but as all good husbands do, he humored me and off we went. We purchased our first mini “Hershey” off of that craigslist ad. He was an excellent beginner driving horse whose big personality got us hooked on the Miniature breed. We decided we wanted to go watch a mini show and as luck would have it, there was a NorCal Miniature show the next weekend. We stayed at the show all day and watched a variety of classes and one trainer, Cassidy Blanton, made a big impression on me. While standing at ringside, a gentleman named Richard Erickson, introduced himself and inquired about our interest in minis. Luckily, he was one of Cassidy’s clients and introduced us around the campfire that evening. 28 Miniature Horse World D E C E M B E R 2 0 15