Bob Ellis/staff photographer
Daniele Card, 11, of Dryden, spends time with her pinto-paint horse “Dee” in their backyard stable. Card has been riding horses since she was 5 and recently won an event at the Pinto World Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
Dryden 11-year-old top rider at horse show
Girl wins competition in barrel racing at Pinto World Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
DRYDEN — Asked what she enjoys most about riding competitions, Daniele Card of Dryden paused to think before answering.
“I enjoy making friends and traveling,” Daniele said. Her mother, Annmarie, brought a broad smile to the 11-year-old girl’s face by adding, “and winning.”
Six years ago Daniele Card began riding. Five years ago she entered her first show. Now the 11-year-old horse enthusiast has placed first in the “Walk/Trot-Barrel Racing” class at the Pinto World Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
The Pinto World Championships is a competition put on by the Pinto Horse Association of America. The association is a nonprofit organization that maintains a registry for the pinto horse breed.
Daniele said she first got into riding because a friend in kindergarten owned a horse. She told her parents she wanted lessons for her fifth birthday, so they called up family friend Jody Caufield, who had a retired champion pinto mare. Caufield said Daniele could test-ride the horse before deciding on lessons.
In a letter to the Pinto Association, Daniele described her encounter with the first horse, Lucy, as “love at first sight” and her passion for riding hasn’t let up since. For the past three years she has ridden on current horse “Dee,” whose show name is Ima Spot Of Delight and is owned by the Cards.
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