Katy Mitukiewicz is sixteen years old and lives in Elora,
Ontario … She has always loved horses and has been riding for
over 9 years. Katy shows her beautiful bay gelding, ‘Formula to
Star’, in the Novice, Youth and Open classes of the AQHA shows
all over Ontario. ‘Formula to Star’ is known around the farm as
Dervish, but to Katy, Dervish is more than just a show horse, he
is her friend. Katy is a bold rider, one of a very small number of AQHA riders who show in the very difficult ‘over fences’ classes. This summer Katy competed all of the jumping classes, but she didn’t stop there … Katy and Dervish also showed in Showmanship and in Leadline. Katy’s favourite class to show in is Leadline!
Over the summer, Katy was coached by and showed under the guidance of Kathleen Burnett. Katy loved working with Kathleen and the staff of the Encore Equestrian Centre and loved being a part of a show team. For Katy, this summer was a dream come true, spending time with her friends and her horse all at the same time! Katy has asked me to thank her friends at Encore for all the good times and of course her parents for all their encouragement and support – we all know we couldn’t do it without strong coaching leadership and of course, the support of our parents!
Katy and her beautiful bay gelding, “Formula to Star” have many moments in the show ring to be proud of, but Katy was most pleased after completing a clear round at 3'6" in open jumping. While it was not the first time they jumped clean, it was the first time they finished clean when being judged at the highest level in Ontario … and yes, there were likely some tears of joy in the audience! A clean round is truly something to be proud of – Congratulations Katy!
On the rare days when Katy is not riding she keeps very busy! She attends Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in Guelph. And in her free time enjoys playing squash, tennis, and going downhill skiing. In the future Katy hopes to attend University for Marketing and Public Relations.
Good Luck to Katy and Dervish in the upcoming show season!