 May
2008
Tori and Toughy
For those of you who don’t know me, I am Victoria
Taraszewski. Most everyone knows me as “Tori.” I
have trained and shown some of the best ponies a girl
could ask for. Even as busy as I am, I find time
to do plenty in my “time off” from showing! This
year I won the title of Miss Illinois Teen United States
and I am proud to be representing the great state of
Illinois at the national pageant in July. But enough
about me…
NB’s Lacys Toughest Yet:
2004 #1 in the Nation Yearling Colts, 2004 International
Futurity Champion Yearling Colts, and 6 for 6 Grand
Champion Stallion at the 2004 Florida Turkey Circuit.
It seems like just yesterday we were picking up that “little” pony
Toughy in Wisconsin in the dead of winter...Well that “little” pony
grew up, and fast. After a whirlwind Winning Show Season in 2004 (thank
you to Jennifer Dillard), and a few years of “pasture time” while
the trailer was full, Toughy is finally mine to show.
After our first show of the season spent mainly learning
to go forward, Toughy sure has come a long way. Through all the frustration and countless “I
quit” moments, I can’t believe how much I love him. Toughy
thinks he is a big ol’ dog and follows me around everywhere. On occasion
he will even try to climb in my lap while I am relaxing in a chair or lick my
hands just to get attention. He is quite the clown!
His goofiness aside, he takes his job as a show pony
very seriously. He
always tries his hardest and gives 110% even if he has no idea what to do, or
what’s going on. After a whole season of taking it easy and mainly doing
pleasure, Toughy thought the whole showing thing was a cinch. That was
until the show my little brother wanted to game him. I think Toughy decided
then that he thought he was going to die! Showing really wasn’t as
easy as he thought. Through it all Toughy goes on. At
times I think he would smile if he could.
I want to give a big thank you to Dawn Petersen, our
new trainer for helping us get into our tip-top pleasure
shape for this year. Thank you so much
for all your hard work! I can’t wait to see
what this year will bring for us.
I will be gaming Snickers (FS Sugar Bar Nickers) again
this year. We also
added High School Rodeo to our resume, and qualified for State Finals this June. You
might also see me in the ring with King (M&N’s King Gray Jacket) once
in a while...we’ll see. Maybe there will
be a new face or two in the ring with me, as I will be
training and showing our new weanling, sired by HF King
Gold Chips.
I am very excited to see what this year holds
for my mare HF Look Eye Bounced Back (Lucy). Good luck to Dawn Petersen and Lucy in the 3&4 y/o JPFC
Classes this year! I know you both will be amazing. I want to thank
Alison Muzyka for starting Lucy off so great. All your hard work really
paid off! I am very excited for the show season to start!
Until then,
-Tori Taraszewski
Miss Illinois Teen United States 2008 |
Pony Of The Americas Club, Inc.