Central Oregon Velvet - The Apprentice 2007
By Gabriel Denison
First appeared in the Winter 2007 Issue of the Central Oregon Horse Journal
According to The Central Oregon Hunter Jumper Association, there are 20 2’ top jumpers in Central Oregon. Kokomo Bay, owned and ridden by Karalee Simmons, is number six. Kokomo Bay was also the horse to represent Central Oregon at State Fair this year.
Karalee Simmons, at 17 years old and against all odds, has put her “horse into history,” just as Velvet Brown rode The Piebald into history in the Grand National. Last year, Karalee didn’t even have a horse.
In 2006, Karalee Simmons decided she was tired of riding other people’s horses. She wanted her own horse. She wanted to jump. She started shopping, and fell in love with the picture of a small, brown, registered thoroughbred off the track, offered for sale by a local horse trader.
“That was my horse,” said Karalee,” and I was going to buy her.” She saved money from cleaning stalls at a local stable, housesitting, and “pooper scooping” people’s yards. Karalee bought her mare for $2000.00, paid off in 5 payments, and set out to achieve her dream of becoming a competitive show jumper.
“I gave her first lessons,” said Dawna-Marie Fixott., M.D. of Redmond Family Medicine. “She kept her horse at our house, and really wanted to learn.” However, Dr. Fixott is primarily a dressage rider, and Kara wanted to jump her little mare, Kokomo Bay.
While cleaning stalls at Cline Falls stables, Kara saw a jumping exhibition given by John von Haas. “I knew that was my teacher,” said Kara. “He had Olympic form, and I wanted to ride like that.” She begin taking lessons from von Haas, a trainer with experience in calvary form, dressage, and stadium jumping. Von Haas holds a certificate from Harold Black’s Esquela Equestre U.S. chapter.
“There is something special about Kara,” von Haas reports. “She’s very quiet, but determined and tough as nails. When she started training, neither she nor the mare knew much at all. I took the mare for beginning jump training for 30 days, and then worked with both the girl/horse team. It was important for me to help Karalee achieve her goals.”
Karalee did not have anyone to bankroll her dreams, but she had lots of work ethic and determination. Her parents, Matt and Laura Simmons, are supportive of their daughter, but cannot contribute financially to her hobby. All through the long winter of 2006/07 Karalee cleaned stalls to pay for her lessons, and rode her mare through all kinds of weather.
“It was cold, sometimes the ground was frozen, and I fell off a lot,” she remembers. “One day, John said he was tired of me falling off.” She laughs at the memory now, recalling von Haas sent her home with daily exercises to do, and then made her ride without stirrups for almost a month.
“I really hated it,” said Karalee, “but it paid off at State Fair in the Equitation classes. Several of the kids were really scared to ride that way, but I was completely prepared.” Karalee now works full time for Von Haas, at Martingale Equine Stables on Hwy 97, as a groom and exercise rider. She has begun showing other jumpers in the stables show string, including The Union Gunner, an Irish Thoroughbred, and Tomorrow’s Top Bar, an appendix APHA with both Jet Deck (Jockey Club) and Impressive (American Quarter Horse Assoc) bloodlines. “I am learning so much about conformation and styles of jumping,” Karalee exclaims. “No two horses jump alike. This is a great learning opportunity, and my form is improving daily.”
Karalee began the show circuit this year at COHJA shows, held at the Sagebrush arena throughout the summer at Deschutes County Fairgrounds. She has shown at Future Street Farms, in Tumalo, Oregon and in August, loaded up and went to compete in the Thoroughbred classes at the State Fair.
“ We started chores at 5 am, and my halter class was at 9 a.m,” Kara recalls. “My last equitation class was at 10pm. It was very demanding, physically and mentally. I would do it again in a second.”
“When I started riding,” she goes on to explain, “ I was very shy. I didn’t know how to compete, and getting out in front of people was embarrassing. Now, I like it. I have my horse, and I’m not alone. As long as I have my horses, I can do anything.”
essons
Martingale lessons have been described as a “training videos come to life.” We encourage students who ask questions, who engage in greater learning, who take the time to explore their own emotional issues, who are interested in developing their horses as partners. 