When not at school, she can be found at home on her family farm located in Cookstown, with her parents Janet and Brian as well as her two brothers and sister, Taylor. On their farm you will find six quarter horses, a jack Russell named Rodney and an Australian shepherd named Carmen.
Chelsea’s show career began when she was just ten years old. Her parents surprised her with her very first horse Intimate Katie aka Katie. Katie was 16 when she was added to the Ross family, Chelsea recalls Katie being the perfect babysitter to introduce her into the show pen at local Club shows. After their first show season together Katie was retired and became broodmare, becoming a mother of 5.
Chelsea has gone onto show several different horses since then. Her current mount Potential Revenue, aka Tex, is one of two home raised foals out of Katie that Chelsea has shown. This bond of experiencing everything together has evidently brought Chelsea and Tex together as a team. They currently compete together in the showmanship, horsemanship and western pleasure events. Chelsea hopes to add more events for next year. When I asked Chelsea what her proudest horse show moment was, she simply said; “anytime I place, or have a good ride with Tex is a good moment for me because he is homebred. I was there when he was born, when he went through his awkward yearling stage, his first ride, his first horse show, his first win. I think the best is yet to come.”
Chelsea competes mostly at Area 3 shows and has travelled to Carp and Ilderton shows in the past. She usually travels with her mom and her sister Taylor and they can often be found together while at the shows. This year was Taylor’s first year competing in all around events. This has kept Janet especially busy grooming and making sure they both are always organized and looking their best! Chelsea enjoys showing with her sister. Together they can challenge each other as well as encourage one another during the hard times. Their dad also plays a key role at the horseshows when he is able to make it, as the official photographer and cook! Although they have noticed his photo archives often result in more pictures of trucks then horses!
For next year, Chelsea hopes to add more classes as well as bring along their 2009 Good Machine filly.
We wish the best of luck to Chelsea with all her future pursuits!