Right in the middle of her final volleyball season, one Sedona Red Rock High School senior returned from a two-week trip to Europe with two championships atop an Appaloosa.

Kendall Woellmer, who owns and rides the breed and has worked with a local horse trainer for seven years, summited a competitive youth riding career Oct. 11 in Mooslargue, France. She was scored the unanimous winner in the Ranch Horse Pleasure class for 18-year-olds and under at the European Appaloosa championships.

“This was an experience of a lifetime: Horses, Europe and show competition,” she said. “It was a thrill to have our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, played in my honor for winning the Ranch Horse Pleasure class. It gave me and my family chills.”

Woellmer, one of only two U.S. competitors selected to be hosted for the championships, also received a gold medal for the Reserve Championship in the Youth Hunt Seat Equitation class.

“I was a bit nervous about the prospect of proving myself in overseas competition,” she said. “Then, during the competition, I realized that I was in my element. I was showing horses surrounded by people who love the sport as much as I do.”

Woellmer, this year’s World Reserve Appaloosa Youth Trail champion, returned to the awards podium three more times over the five-day competition, winning bronze medals on the way to fourth place overall against a youth field represented by eight European Union countries.

“Every time a winner of a class was announced, the anthem of their respective country was played while the top three horses and riders were on the podium,” said Woellmer’s mother, Shelley. “Kendall rode two different Appaloosa horses during the five-day competition.

“Interestingly, both horses that Kendall were to ride were young, inexperienced and pregnant. This added to the challenge and excitement of this exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

A four-judge team awarded two additional top 10 places to Kendall Woellmer following five top 10 finishes at the World Appaloosa Youth Show in Fort Worth, Tex., in July.

“I was happy to learn that horse shows in Europe are announced and directed in English,” she said. “Most Europeans speak English and would rather you not torture their language.

“’Whoa’ is a word universal to horses and humans.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 18, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.