Team Bios:
Patty Larro:
I’m Patty Larro and I’m a senior at North. My first experience with horses was as a three year old leading a horse around the paddock. I fell in love with horses then. I began taking lessons when I was six and continued for a few years until other activities took up my free time. When I entered my freshman year, a friend told me about the equestrian team and I’ve been on the team ever since. I was fortunate enough to represent North at IEA Nationals last May, where I placed second in crossrails. I hope to ride in college and pursue a career in equine veterinary medicine. I’m excited about my final year on the team.
Andi Allen:
Hey! I'm Andrea Allen but you can call me Andi. Im a Junior at Milton High School, and i rode on their hunt seat team last year, but I'm so happy to be riding on NGHS western team this year! I have been riding for about 9 years, and its my life. I have ridden just about every discipline, but western is defiantly my thing. When I started riding, I was running barrels at the age of 6. Then my family moved out to California and I did western pleasure and hunter under saddle, and had a lot of success with that. Then I started doing a little roping, cow sorting, gymkhana, and reining. Then again my family moved out to Georgia and I started riding hunters because there were no places to ride western. But now im riding western again on the team and im so excited! I am riding in Varsity Open Reining and Horsemanship. We're going to have an awesome year! Go NGHS!
Casey Kohn:
I first learned English but grew a love for Western. This is my first year reining but I really enjoy it and am willing to try really hard to get ready for show.
When I was thirteen, I stopped riding because I felt burnt out on jumping and hunter equitation. Throughout the years that I wasn't riding, I swam for two
years and played lacrosse for one year. During that time I craved riding and when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join a reining team, I didn't hesitate.
I will be competing in Varsity Intermediate Reining along with Horsemanship. I am so excited for the new western team. GO NGHS!
Amelia Nowicki:
My name is Amelia Nowicki, and I'm a sophmore at NGHS. I'm a varisity intermediate 2' rider. I first started riding Western when I was about six. I did that for about two years. I also played soccer, and when I started doing the travel teams at age eight, I became too busy to ride. The summer going into sixth grade I begged for lessons and finally began riding again, but this time English. I rode mostly for fun at Seldom Rest Stables, but after about a year and a half there I decided to become more competetive. I switched over to Fortitude Farm. A few months later, I got what I'd been asking for one hundred times a day since I could talk... a pony! I share him with my younger sister, Molly. His name is My Beary Best Friend aka "Bear." He's a large pony hunter. When we got him he was super green, but I loved him anyway because he's sweet, honest, smart, and very cute! I've now had him for about two years, and we're boarding at Starting Point Farm and training with Jessica Kaltman who is now also the Hunt Seat team's trainer. We show in the Long Stirrup division on the ESJ local series and plan to make it to Pony Finals in the future! I'm excited for the 09-10 season... it's going to be a good one!
Audrey Kallman:
Hello! My name is Audrey Kallman and I am a sophomore at North Gwinnett High School . I am on the hunt seat team and compete in junior varsity novice cross-rails for the team. When I was ten years old I started riding and just took lessons for a year and a half. After that I started leasing horses and began to show more. In the spring when I was in eighth grade, my trainer found me an awesome horse who answers to Pumbaa, or his show name,Empty Pockets. I show him in the hunters and have now owned him for a year and a half! This season is going to be a great one for our team and I am looking forward to a positive season with great results at nationals!
Lauren Garmon:
Hey! I'm Lauren Garmon, a sophomore at Norcross High School. This year I will be on North Gwinnett's new Western team! I have been riding now for around 9 years. I got my horse, Scarlet when I was 8. At the time when I bought her she was a polo pony. Although she is still quite a mystery to me since she didn't come with papers, we can't tell what breed she is, and we can't tell her age since her teeth were knocked out while playing polo, I still love her to death anyways! Now, I enjoy riding and showing her in Western Pleasure as well as in Hunter Under Saddle events. I started off riding English but fell in love with Western after I did a summer camp at Verse Noia in 2006.Scarlet and I have been at Verse Noia for almost 4 years and have enjoyed every moment of it. My Coach, Linda McClure, has taught me a lot about reining and what all is involved in it. I have become very interested in this new discipline and am now able to show in it this year due to the new team. I was on Rivendell's western team last year and am excited to be able to still be on a team, better yet on a team at my home barn, this year since the other did not work out as planned. This year I will be showing in Varsity Open Reining and Horsemanship, both western events. I think we will do great this year and hopefully more people will join the western team next year!!
Alicia Howard:
Hi, I'm Alicia! I started riding English at age eight, on a horse called Oreo at a barn whose name escapes my memory. Then we moved because it didn't work out, and in sixth grade I was able to have English lessons again at Stonewood Stables, riding the most easy-tempered horse, Kilroy. I traded through hands of different trainers, and finally the barn was moved to a new location. In seventh grade, my friend Lizzie took me to one of her lessons in Verse Noia, and I was taken with the expanse of the trails and fields that my old barn definitely didn't have! Eventually I started lessons there with Jane, but that didn't work out. Since then, I've worked with Becca, Linda, and Connie and they've all been great trainers. Because I've been riding on and off so long, I've never showed, well... if a summer camp doesn't count! I'm riding on the western team for North this year. This'll be a new experience for me and I'm looking forward to it and also being the team photographer. :)
Jessica Doppel:
Hi! My name is Jessica Doppel, and I am really excited to join the team this year. I am a freshman at
Taylor Price:
Hi! I'm Taylor and I'm a freshman at GAC. This is my first year on the North Gwinnett team and riding Hunt Seat. I've been riding and showing Saddlebreds for 5 years. I got my first horse when I was 11. He was a 17 hand Saddlebred named Play Date. I now own a Saddlebred named Strike Up the Lights aka Charlie and a Hackney pony that I drive named Jose Cuervo. In addition to riding and showing horses, I play soccer. I started playing when I was 4 years old. I will be a flat rider this year for the team and look foward to the upcoming season!
Tiffany Kinard:
Hi! My name is Tiffany Kinard. I am a Freshman at Peachtree Ridge High School. I am on the Western team. I have been riding since I was 9 yrs old. I have taken lessons at Versa Noia and Fairhope Stables. The first horse I learned to ride on was Skip. I did many English shows with Skip. I also did some shows with Fairhope Stables. The horses I rode there were Noble and Mr. Goodwrench. This past January I got my own horse. Her name is Bell and she is a Tennessee Walker. She has a lot of spirit. She is gray and white. Now I am excited to try Western. Also, I am excited about being apart of the North Gwinnett Equestrian team. Thank you for letting me be apart of it.
