A young man from Dolores has teamed up with a heritage quarter horse to compete for a $5,000 scholarship.
The American Quarter Horse Youth Association hosts a yearly contest that pairs young equestrians with a special horse breed that has a bloodline going back six generations.
Contestant Jasper Breitenbach, 14, of Dolores, first had to write a convincing essay on horsemanship. He was awarded a yearling heritage quarter horse he named Baby.
At the family ranch south of Narraguinnep Reservoir, Jasper leads Baby over for a photo shoot.
The 14-hand horse is friendly and curious, approaching strangers with ease and sticking her big nose into whatever seems interesting.
"She really loves people. The heritage breed has an easy temperament," Jasper says. "They're born in the mountains and are sure-footed."
Baby was born in Toole, Utah, on the 50,000-acre Running U Livestock ranch owned by Shamus Hawes. When the Breitenbachs went to pick her up last spring, she had barely been touched by human hands.
"When we arrived, she was just 5 months old," said Jennifer Breitenbach, Jasper's mom. "Jasper walked right up to her, put his arms around her neck and attached a lead. She was so small he picked her up into the trailer."
As part of the second phase of the contest, Jasper is competing against 17 other youth also given heritage horses for a $5,000 scholarship based on horsemanship skills.
"It went well. We've did all the requirements and documented it all," Jasper said. "At first she was a tugger, but corrected after falling in the mud."
He traveled to Bayfield with Baby to be judged on his skills by Troy Rogers, a professional trainer. Jasper had to successfully load her in a trailer, lunge and tie her.
A video was submitted of Baby jumping, being led through water, being bathed and clipped, roped in a pasture, bridled and saddled, all set to country music featuring Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean.
The Breitenbachs are eagerly waiting to hear the winner. But Jasper is nonchalant about it all. He said if he wins he might use the scholarship to become an architect or enroll in ranch management at CSU.
Mostly he is happy to win a horse and gain experience.
"I'd like to make a roping horse out of her," he said. "I recently bought five cows for the pasture here."
