Avalanch KD and Sydney won Reserve National Champion Arabian Western Pleasure AATR Select and six additional top tens in various divisions.
By Brianna York
As featured in the Fall 2024 issue of Arabian Horse World
Sydney with Don Moulierre. They won Reserve National Champion Arabian Ranch Rail ATR plus Top Tens in Ranch Rail Open, Hunter Type ATR and Hunter Type Open.
It’s no secret that people who ride horses are tough. However, no one proves this fact more clearly or triumphantly than Sydney Himes. Sydney traveled thousands of miles to attend the 2024 Canadian National Show with a broken back and other healing injuries. She then showed in seven divisions and earned two Reserve National Championships and heaps of Top Tens with her three horses.
Sydney wasn’t sure if she would be able to make it to nationals this year after a horse accident in April left her with significant injuries that will still require physical therapy and other more invasive treatments to heal. However, she did make it to a couple of shows in late June, which gave her hope that she could make the trip to nationals and show in at least some of her classes.
Her doctor and treatment team told her to “take it easy,” which means something entirely different to horse lovers than normal folks. Sydney competed in Sport Horse Hunter Type and Dressage Type, Western and Classical Dressage, Sidesaddle, Western Pleasure, and Ranch Rail at Canadian Nationals this year. All of these classes were completed with three broken vertebrae and a shoulder injury that essentially meant that she was riding with one arm the entire show!
Sydney credits her horses for helping her continue to enjoy so much success even as she is healing from her accident. Her group of beautiful horses returned to work in late June after a few weeks off without missing a beat and excelled in new divisions this season. Don Moulierre actually made a late-season change to show in the ranch horse classes right before nationals and received a Reserve National Championship in his first national outing!
Like so many Arabian lovers, Sydney made it clear that she was happy to help “Donny” find the division he liked best. “This is the thing that he likes,” she said, and she stated that earning such a prestigious prize in his first national outing is a big testament to the horse’s desire to continue to compete in this division in the future.
Mozart Dun Good also tried out some new classes at the Canadian National Show, competing in classical and western dressage with great success. This is her youngest horse, but “he listens very well” and “is a big goof.” She says that he “knew his job” despite the limited time to practice before the show.
Mozart Dun Good and Sydney garnered Top Tens in Half-Arabian Ranch Rail ATR, Training Level Test 3 ATR, Western Dressage Level 3, Hunter Type Under Saddle, Hunter Type Under Saddle ATR, and Dressage Type Under Saddle ATR.
Sydney also competed in the main ring, earning a Reserve National Championship in the Purebred Western Pleasure Select class with Avalanche KD. She has owned Avalanche for five years and says that he is “her little precious child.” She went on to say that he is an Arabian and can be very full of himself, but he has a huge heart and exemplifies the breed.
This statement encapsulates so much of what makes the Arabian breed so special. The partnerships that riders are able to create with their Arabian and Half-Arabian partners are incredibly special. While there is no question that Sydney is an excellent horsewoman and someone with true grit and determination, she is quick to point out that she knows her equine companions stepped up to the plate to help her out in her time of need.
The generosity of the Arabian horse and their kindness as a breed is what makes these horses so unique. Syndey’s journey to nationals this year exemplifies everything that we all love about Arabian horses. Sydney stated that she was both impressed and moved by the way that her horses stepped up to the plate and she feels humbled knowing that she had such loving and generous equine partners in her life.
Sydney also said that she learned other valuable lessons from her accident as well. All it takes is one moment for things to change in your life forever, and Sydney said that she is grateful that she didn’t receive a significant head injury during her accident.
“I wear a helmet now,” she said, indicating that she is happy to see more and more main ring competitors doing the same. She went on to say that she knows that horses can make mistakes or trip and fall, and we need to be sure that we don’t think that we are invincible as riders.
This was Sydney’s second trip to Canadian Nationals, and she said she loves the atmosphere of the show and that the sponsors and daily parties and events are amazing. She called the show “so welcoming” and said that she would continue to come back over and over to a show that makes it clear that it exists “for the exhibitors first and foremost.”
