Teen rider raising money to ship partner to nationals

When Sabrina Searles was 4, she entertained herself by playing with the barn kittens while her older sister worked with a horse and trainer. It didn’t take long for the younger one to became interested in horses, too, and that year, the siblings received a four-legged Christmas present — a horse named Penny, which was perfect for beginning horseback-riding lessons.

Now 17, Searles, of Winter Garden, has spent most of her childhood on the backs of several horses, becoming a talented rider and competitor and filling the house with ribbons, trophies (17 of them) and belt buckles (four). Earlier this month, she and her 4-year-old horse — Just My Lexus aka Scotch — earned a Youth Show Grand Champion Halter Gelding trophy from the Circle G Classic in Mississippi.

The teen is a rising senior at West Orange High School and spends a great deal of time in other parts of the country collecting awards at national competitions. She said she has competed in more than 100 shows; she was about 8 years old at her first competition. She keeps up with schoolwork through email but is required to take her tests at school.

Two more horse shows are coming up in August, and the rider and her parents, Marty and Marisol Searles, are trying to raise funds to offset the cost of shipping Scotch to Oklahoma — about $8,000. They are planning a carwash for this Sunday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Tijuana Flats on West Colonial Drive in Winter Garden.

To get to the American Quarter Horse Association’s World Champion Show in Oklahoma City, Searles had one year to accumulate enough points to qualify. She did it in three months, receiving most of her points in two qualification classes: Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat. The HUS class is judged primarily on the horse’s movement and manners. Hunt Seat is an equitation class, meaning it’s mainly judged on the ability and style of the rider.

Searles is currently eighth in the nation for Youth Hunter Under Saddle 18 & Under.

When asked what she likes most about riding horses, she answered, “The challenge.”

Her performance has advanced to the level where she is starting to compete against former trainers at shows, and she says the “competitive spirit” is fun.

She enjoys riding different horses, too, “because they all have different personalities,” but Scotch is all hers. She has had him for about 10 months. The horse lives in Reddick, just outside Ocala, at JB Show Horses, and her trainer, Jenny Baker, cares for him. Baker’s parents, Helmut and Judy Lekschas, bred and raised Scotch. Searles goes up to Reddick a few times a month.

When she’s not riding Scotch or the family horses, Searles is working as a hostess at Texas Roadhouse, earning money to cover as much of her show and travel expenses as she can.

Anyone wanting to help Scotch get to Oklahoma can send donations to Sabrina Searles, 13750 W. Colonial Drive, Suite 350 #127, Winter Garden 34787. Anyone wishing to follow her journey can find her on Facebook, where she will provide regular updates. She and Scotch will compete for two days during the nine-day program and then head to Tulsa, Okla., for a 10-day world show.