TRENTON — Angela Howard, a 16 year old Kingsway Regional High School student, was named the 2014 New Jersey Equestrian of the Year by the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board on Jan. 26 at the annual New Jersey Breeder’s Luncheon in Eastampton. She represented Gladstone Equestrian Association.
As Equestrian of the Year, Angela will attend functions hosted by the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board and represent the Board at functions.
“The competition for Equestrian of the Year highlights the most enthusiastic, dedicated young people involved with horses in our state,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “Angela will represent the state proudly and be a model for younger children interested in equine activities.”
Angela lives in Mullica Hill with her parents and has two older siblings who attend college out of state.
Angela joined 4-H and started riding when she was six years old. Her favorite discipline is dressage but she also rides english equitation, english pleasure and western pleasure and trail. She has participated in horse shows, horse-related activities and state events since 2008. She was the 2011 Gloucester County Junior Equestrian of the Year and placed third in the 2013 Equestrian of the Year contest.
“I entered the contest again this year because I thought it was a great opportunity and wanted to see how far I could go,” said Howard. “I am very excited about my upcoming year and visiting the state’s equestrian events on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.”
While she does not live on a farm, Angela boards her Quarter horse Lamont at a Franklinville farm and is active in the management of the farm and horse barn, helping to care for the 12 horses currently residing there.
As part of the Equestrian of the Year contest, Angela had to write an essay on animal disaster preparedness. She wrote about the steps that were taken at the horse farm to prepare for Hurricane Irene. Those efforts kept the horses safe during the storm.
“You have to know your farm to know what’s best for it,” she wrote. “The best way to prevent your farm from the damaging effects of when a disaster strikes is to be prepared. Spending time to create a disaster prevent plan will help you when a disaster actually occurs.”
Angela plans on attending college for bio-environmental/agricultural engineering or genetics. She hopes to combine her love for horses and her love of science and the environment in her future career.
