West Central Valley High School freshman, Gillian Stanley, is traveling to Louisville, Kentucky next week to compete in the American Saddle-bred World Championship.
Stanley says her love of horses and horse training started at a young age. “When I was about 5 my parents took me over to a horse riding place and I had a lesson and I really enjoyed it. So we kept doing it and I’ve been doing it ever since. We did change stables and I’ve been riding at Jennifer and Louie’s Louw Stables since I was about 7 years old.”
Stanley and her horse, Warrior’s Sunbird, which she has had for approximately 4 years, compete in the Three Gaited Country Pleasure division.
Stanley says those participating in the championships have to qualify through other contests. “Well I’ve been doing really well the past two years and Louie and Jennifer have decided that I have been doing really well lately. So I had a chance to go. To be qualified, I had to ride five times in my division in a year.”
Stanley adds that she is “very thankful for the chance to go and she says that this will be a great experience and it will be fun.”
Stanley is the daughter of Curt and Melinda Partlow of Stuart and Celena and Mike Bitner of Dexter.