Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
By Stephanie Scheid
This story was featured in the Equine Chronicle in 2007
Keeping up with the Joneses in the horse show world can be a pretty daunting task. The huge price tags for horses, show clothes, saddles, trucks, trailers, busses, and on and on can be intimidating for newcomers and the working class.
There are some folks, however, who have found alternative ways to compete at the highest level of the industry without shelling out six digit figures for a horse. Sometimes it is luck – they just happen to stumble across a future world champion in the back woods somewhere. Other times it may take years and years of breeding for that perfect cross and finally getting lucky with that once-in-a-lifetime horse. Usually it requires being in the right place at the right time, with everything aligning perfectly in order for a horse and rider to reach their full potential and 15 minutes of fame and glory.
Though she now hails from Avalon, Wisconsin, Shannon McKillips is a native of Ontario, Canada, and living proof that even ominous exchange rates can be overcome if you want it bad enough.
After riding for seven years, Shannon was ready to make the jump to Quarter Horse shows full time. She purchased Ima Raven Star (also known as Celeste) as a yearling from her breeder, Barb Lockyer, for $5,000 Canadian.
“I had watched her older brother show and really liked him, however he was simply out of my price range,” she said. “I come from a middle class family that lives in the city. We were by no means poor, but there was no way I could spend an unlimited amount of money either.”
With her new horse came new responsibilities and expenses.
“I was on a very strict budget,” said Shannon. “I had a job by the time I was 14, and two by age 16, to help my parents with the expenses. I also worked at the barn doing chores to help decrease the cost of things like board and lessons even before I bought Celeste.”
“My habit of working to ride proved to be quite valuable over the years, essentially enabling me to cut costs of day fees, lessons, training fees, etc. I would do everything and anything from cleaning stalls, feeding morning, noon and night, to watering, sweeping, banding, braiding, and saddling horses,” she remembers. “Sometimes I would get up at 4 a.m. to do this all before my show day began or ended.”
“I was blessed that most of the people I worked with were willing to barter with me in these ways and will forever be grateful to them!”
Shannon often traveled to different trainers’ barns to stay for a week, riding along side them, always striving to be better and to learn as much as possible. She took every criticism into consideration and learned from it.
“I would usually do chores to work off my room and board there as well – to this day I still don’t mind doing stalls,” she laughed.
Her parents bought a living quarters trailer so that she could haul her own horse and have a place to stay to cut the costs of hauling, food, and hotels.
“When my horse went into training I chose someone who I respected and who was meticulous and honest,” she said. “I also made sure to ask for a list of the trainers’ fees so I could allocate my money and be prepared for my invoices when they came.”
“I would watch lessons while they were given, even at horse shows, and even get my peers to critique me,” she continued. “Anything to learn more techniques to incorporate into my training program and improve my showing.”
As for show clothes, Shannon opted to choose just a few outfits that would last her a long time.
“With the help of my trainers, I would try to find things that were timeless; pieces that wouldn't go out of style but were simple, elegant and classy,” she said. “I also bought used clothes from friends when they got new ones, and worked so I had one nice piece for each class.”
While they were together, Shannon and Celeste culminated their partnership by winning the Amateur Showmanship at the Congress with wins under three out of four judges. They won AQHA national titles in showmanship and horsemanship three consecutive years, and multiple top five and 10 finishes at the World Show and Congress in Amateur Showmanship, Horsemanship and Versatility.
“I owned Celeste for six years,” she recalled. “She taught me a lot and definitely far exceeded my and many others’ expectations.”
“She taught me that persistence is the key to success and to never give up,” she said.
“Celeste has a new owner now, a young lady who is slowly starting her own success story; and 
let me tell you, it was more exciting for me to watch them win the 13 and under Showmanship at the Congress last year than anything she ever helped me accomplish!”
“I think it is very important to remember that it doesn't matter how much money you have, but how much effort and heart you put into the task at hand,” she said.
After selling Celeste, Shannon hung up her Amateur boots a few years ago to train full time with her husband Ryan. They try to limit the number of horses in training to 15 in order to be able to give each one the time they deserve. They have extensive experience in everything from halter, to futurity horses, to the all around.
Pictured Right: The McKillips two dogs, Lucy and Bear, ham it up for the holidays.
