It is Hubbard’s fifth year riding and training Arabian horses and her fifth year competing in nationals as well.

She competed in the side-saddle, hunter pleasure and equitation events this year. She placed in two side-saddle events, earning a bronze medal in the Middle Summer Nationals open class and the title of champion in the Youth Division. She was also awarded top 10 in the Half-Arabian Hunter Pleasure and Elite Rider classes.

AHA’s website lists the defining characteristics of Arabian horses as including a “finely chiseled head, dished face, long arching neck and high tail carriage.”

“Its entire appearance exudes energy, intelligence, courage and nobility,” according to the site. “Every time an Arabian moves in its famous ‘floating trot,’ he announces to the world his proud, graceful nature.”

Hubbard said she enjoyed working with Arabians, despite common perceptions of their temperaments.

“You have the stereotypes of Arabians that maybe they’re a little bit crazier, more on edge, but I’d really say more of the opposite,” she said. “I’ve had so many other quarter horses [and other] breeds that have been so much hotter and not nearly as polite as the ones I have now.”

She was introduced to the breed by her ballet teacher and learned through riding a half-Arabian, SS Ican Winn (Ike), which she still competes with. Horse and rider learned the techniques together.

“We bought him sight unseen. We drove all the way up there, picked him up,” she said. “He’s just a little pasture horse, so we had to start from ground zero, like learning a discipline and learning to be a hunter and getting the right shoes on him. … All the little things like that.”

She added: “Learning how to ride the steps and stuff with Ike really made it so much more rewarding. … I was really grateful I got him.”

Hubbard’s other horse is a full Arabian, so while they compete in the same events, Hubbard uses each for different competitions. She thinks both horses are a large part of why she enjoys the sport.

“I’ve been very lucky with the horses I’ve gotten; they’re very kind and they’re very fun to take to showings,” she said. “Sometimes you’ll get difficult ones and they teach you a lot, but it’s not necessarily fun. I’ve noticed with both of my main two right now, they … [have] a bit of a calmer temperament and they’re a little bit smarter, but you get to know their personalities — which is really fun. You think, ‘Oh, how can horses be different from one another?’ But no, they definitely have their own likes and dislikes and they will very much tell you once you get to know them enough.”

To compete in the nationals, Hubbard and her family drove the horses to Oklahoma City, where they stayed for two weeks. More than 1,000 horses were presented at the show, according to a release, with more than 3,000 entries exhibiting skills in English, hunter, working western, sport horse and in-hand riding.

Qualifying for the championships has changed since the pandemic. When Hubbard started, she said, it was based on a point system through results at local and regional competitions for both horse and rider.

That is still one way to qualify, though riders can now also qualify by attending a large number of competitions.

Hubbard said she usually participates in about one event a month — which could be across Arizona or the region or elsewhere in the country.

The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show every February, for example, is one of the larger competitions, attracting riders from other countries as well as locals.

Judging in competitions can focus more on the horse or the rider, depending on the event. Equitation, for example, focuses on the rider’s form — head straight, heels down, elbows bent — while hunter pleasure is measured by the horse’s gait, manner and positioning at different paces.

Hubbard said her interest in horses and riding stems from several places. She spent years in gymnastics and ballet, and was looking for a new practice when she found the sport and had become familiar with large animals, including horses, through nine years in 4-H.

One of her strongest inspirations, Hubbard said, was her grandfather, who worked with horses for much of his life and encouraged her to take up a slightly different form of his own sport.

She said riding is a way of remembering him.

“I was really close around horses and close to him,” she said. “He definitely played a large part of getting me more into having a passion for it. …He saw me start at the very beginning — which was exciting — and he really thought it was a good idea. I’ve always continued after that.”

A 2022 NPA graduate, Hubbard is moving to California as August ends to study business at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Part of why she chose the school is for the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center; the university is one of only two in the country that offers students the chance to work with Arabian horses. She hopes to participate in their Sunday Shows and learn technique from expert judges. 

Her hope is to combine these two interests in her work.

“I guess long, long down the road, I do hope to maybe manage my own facility, and have my own clientele and make a living off of that,” she said. “I just love it so much; working in that would almost not even be like working because you’re enjoying what you do. The people that you work with, they want to be with you, and you just have those that you’re riding with and you enjoy similar things and you have fun traveling to shows.”

For now, however, Hubbard plans to stay in the saddle.

More about AHA and this summer’s nationals show can be found at arabianhorses.org.