ALEX BARBER IS shown here with her horse, Mick, who she competed with at the Pinto World Championship in June. Barber is wearing her cap and gown from Prairie High School, as she missed her graduation in order to travel to Oklahoma for the competition. Barber, 18, graduated from Prairie this past June, and was a member of the school’s equestrian team.
ASIDE FROM TAKING home world titles in five different events, Alex Barber was also reserve world champion in reining, dressage, western dressage and western discipline rail. Barber used her horse, Mick, for this particular competition, but she also has two other horses, Madison, who she used for WAHSET competitions in high school, and BB, a barrel/rope horse that she recently purchased and started barrel racing on. She will learn how to breakaway rope on BB this fall.
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Alex Barber won world titles in several different events at the Pinto World Championship in Tulsa, OK, including youth obstacle driving, youth discipline rail driving, youth reinmanship driving equitation, senior youth keyhole race and youth ranch horse pleasure. Barber also took home two saddles she won for the high-point, all-around senior youth and for the zone invitational.
When 18-year-old Battle Ground resident Alex Barber made her way to Tulsa, OK, for the Pinto World Championship this past June, she said her goal for the show was to go and win the all-around saddle. What she didn’t expect was to take home two saddles and five world titles.
“I really wasn’t sure if it was possible though (to win all-around saddle) because there are just so many amazing and talented horses and riders at the world show,” Barber said. “I felt well prepared, but honestly was not expecting to take home two saddles and five world titles. It was more than I could have ever dreamed for.”
Barber participated in the Pinto World Championship June 10-22 and took home world titles in five different events - youth obstacle driving, youth discipline rail driving, youth reinmanship driving equitation, senior youth keyhole race and youth ranch horse pleasure. She was also reserve world champion in reining, dressage, western dressage and western discipline rail. Barber and her horse, Mick, were also eight-time top five and four-time top 10, competing in all of the performance events, gaming events and driving events.
A recent graduate of Prairie High School, Barber has been riding horses since she was 9 years old. During her four years at Prairie, she was on the high school’s equestrian team, competing in the Washington High School Equestrian Teams’ (WAHSET) meets, and was the drill team captain during her senior year.
“What I enjoy most about riding is that whenever I’m having a rough day, I know I can count on the horses to cheer me up and I love the bond I have with each one of them,” Barber said.
This was actually Barber’s fifth time competing at the Pinto World Championship. She won a world title in 2008 and a reserve world title in 2007 in the 13-and-under division. One of the saddles she won at this year’s show was for the high-point, all-around senior youth (ages 14-18) and the second one was for the zone invitational (also ages 14-18). For the zone invitational, Barber said riders have to be the number one or number two all-around rider in their “zone” and then the next year at the world show, the riders are invited back to compete against the other top two zone all-around riders. These riders compete in English equitation, English ideal, horsemanship and western ideal and are judged on each event. All of the individual placings are then added and the winner of the saddle is announced.
Barber said she has tons of great memories from the world show, but her favorite memory is that of the zone invitational.
“They were announcing the results of all four events that we did,” she said. “I had taken second in English ideal, third in English equitation, first in horsemanship and third in western ideal. I thought I had got second overall, which I was super excited for. When they started announcing second place I started to walk out, but then they announced a different horse and rider pair and I was in shock. I had no idea I had won until then. They then announced Mick and I as the winners and I was so happy. I was hugging him and walking out and the whole crowd was cheering for me, it was unreal. The announcer even made a comment about how he thought I had brought the whole state of Washington with me because the crowd was so loud. It was absolutely amazing.”
Although Barber has three horses - Mick, Madison and BB - Mick is the horse she competed on at the Pinto World Championship. She said Mick is her “heart and soul,” even though the two had trouble connecting and getting together as a team when she first bought him.
“I struggled with him, but I didn’t want to give up on him,” she said. “I knew he was a great horse with a big heart. I wanted to succeed on him and prove everyone wrong. He is my best friend and he will live with me until it’s his time to go.”
Mick is a 10-year-old paint/pinto and this was Barber’s third year showing him.
Aside from the Pinto World Championship, Barber said she also competes in all of the American Paint Horse Association horse northwest shows. Her favorite events to compete in are showmanship, English equitation, driving events and gaming. Barber and Mick have a few more shows before they are done competing for the year and she said they are trying to win the 14-18 all-around for the northwest coordinating committee, which is all the paint shows for the Pacific Northwest. Currently, they are in the lead.
Barber will attend Washington State University Vancouver this fall and said she hasn’t yet decided on her major, although she is hoping to do something in the medical field. She has two siblings, Lindsey, 26, and Travis, 24.
Barber said she wants to thank her mother for supporting her love of horses, Jayna Roberts for always believing in her and making the trip to Oklahoma and back with her, the Frost family for all of their support and for being her “horse show family” and Andrea Miollis for always keeping her spirits up and also making the trip to Oklahoma with her. Most of all, however, Barber said she would like to thank her horse, Mick.
“He has been a challenge to say the least, but one well worth the effort,” she said. “The horse that once leapt across the arena during patterns has become a reliable performer. We have found our confidence in the arena by trusting each other. So, while I am grateful for finally reaching my dreams at Worlds, I am even more grateful for the partnership I now have with my best friend.”
