A fourth-place finish at the Campbell Valley Horse Trials in Langley is both a cause for celebration and an emotional goodbye for Salmon Arm resident Amelia Kral and her horse Juno.
When Kral purchased her, Juno had just been saved from the slaughterhouse by another buyer.
Juno was neglected by her previous owner.
“They kinda just threw her in a field and didn’t really do much with her,” Kral said.
“She was kinda scared and really skinny.”
Kral began the process of getting Juno competition-ready. When she first began working with Juno she was only able to walk and trot a little bit.
After lots of hard work, Juno is now able to excel in the dressage portion of the three-day events and clear 3’6″ to 3’9″ tall obstacles in the show jumping and cross country portions of the competition.
Kral has competed in eventing before, but Juno is the only horse she has competed with at that such a high level.
Juno’s success is also impressive because she is only seven years old. Most of the other horses in the level of competition Kral and Juno faced in Langley are close to 10 years old and have been competing for two or three years.
Juno has come a long way in the two years Kral owned her.
But following the three-day event in Langley where Kral and Juno competed in show jumping, dressage and cross-country, Kral sold Juno to a family in Alberta. Although she said goodbye to Juno, the horse’s eventing career is not over.
Juno is going to a new home in Alberta with a 13-year-old girl who will learn eventing.
“Juno is gonna show her the ropes,” Kral said.
