I was going to go dig out an old picture of myself at one of my first cross rail shows (2002)… but instead I decided it would be more fitting to emphasize how far my horse, Bella, and I have progressed as a team. The first picture is of her and I at our first horse show together in the Pre-Childrens (Spring 2009 – her first hunter show), and the other picture is from over the summer (July 2012) in the Junior Hunters. I am so very proud of how far we have come, and how she has evolved into such an amazing mare. Love her to death.

Hello all, my name is Sarah, and this is my mare, Bakalia (barn name Bella) and I competing in the Large Junior Hunters.

My story is a long one, but I’ll try to keep it short. I began riding over ten years ago as a gift for my 8th birthday. I consider it the gift that keeps on giving!! A little over a year into riding I persuaded my mother to give it a try, she was hooked after her fist lesson. Since then we have gotten considerably close, because we both spend all our free time thinking about horses and riding. We purchased our first official horse when I was 11, but learned shortly after that we were not meant for each other. Unfortunately, we didn’t figure that out until I had received a spiral fracture to my tibia, and my mom had received a broken neck. After these two incidents we cut our loses and sent our horse off to a new home, where he is now doing great!
After the few rough patches at our first barn, we moved to train under a woman who we are still with to this day. She has restored both my mom and I’s confidence in riding and paired us up with amazing mounts. We have gone through a couple horses during our first initial years, including a mare that helped me learn the fine details of riding, and a gelding that helped me move up to the 3 foot Childrens division.
Skip to a little over 3 years ago:
Once I realized I had learned all I could from my gelding at the time, it was time to move up to another mount, one that I could move up to the 3’6 Juniors with. On my wish list was a 17hh+ grey gelding, what I got was Bella, a 16.1hh chestnut mare. You could say she was everything I didnt want, but everything I did want all at the same time. (Note: she was actually names after the Twilight star, she was imported from Poland with another gelding, Edward!) I have never known a horse like her before. She taught me more in the first 6 months of owning her than I had learned in the previous 7 years I had ridden for. She has become my everything in life, my best friend and more. We have accomplished so much together. Sometimes I forget that three years ago, I was limited to trotting cross rails. My trainer and I would scream with enthusiasm if we were able to canter in and out of a line at one pace. I guess you could say we have made a lot of progress in the pat 3 years. I can remember my first show with Bella, people looked at my like a had three heads when I told them ‘this is my future 3’6 horse.’ Nobody saw it coming, but now I can officially say that I own a Champion Junior Hunter.
I am so proud of how far she and I have come.
No matter how many times I am told that selling Bella would be the economical decision, I am never ever ever ever selling her. I don’t care what anyone says, they don’t understand the bond we have formed. She will forever be my precious princess.
After December, we will break our adult status, and begin showing in the A/Os, but eventually Bella will be bred again (yes again, she is actually a grandma!), and then she will eventually be my pasture ornament.
I love her to the moon and back. And I can only hope she feels the same.

So why do I think I deserve to be JMR’s poster child? Because I know what it’s like to work my butt off in the horse world to accomplish my goals. I am also an avid member of the JMR community. I always submit my latest pictures and videos to the judges, and present my share of advice to other riders. I have made sure to give back to my own horse community, by starting The Show Closet. The Show Closet is a non profit set-up which collects new and used show clothes and lends it out to riders who can’s afford to purchase their own show clothes. I started The Show Closet around 2 1/2 years ago and it has grown from a few boxes in the corner of my basement, to an entire clothing rack full of shirts, pants, coats, etc. I am a good role model, I was selected as captain of my IEA team last year as a senior in High School. As captain, I raised the most money in the team’s history with my team bake sale and silent auction. With the money I raised, my fellow teammates were able to purchases team jackets at a considerably discounted price. The money also went toward discounting rider’s entry fees.
I hope you consider me, Sarah Markowitz, to be JMR’s 2013 Poster Child. I would be honored to be the face of JMR!