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Gainesville, FL, Equestrian Honored with National Youth Achievement of the Year Award within the Morgan Breed

by By Sara Werner | Aug 20, 2008, 2:02 PM

The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) recently announced the recipient of this year’s Youth Achievement Award during the 2008 AMHA Awards Luncheon at the AMHA Annual Convention in Minneapolis, MN. The award, regarded as one of the most celebrated annual honors available through AMHA, went to Caralee Conklin of Gainesville, FL.

Conklin, a lifetime Morgan enthusiast, is the current president of the AMHA Youth Council and has helped to expand and improve existing programs while providing visionary guidance to her fellow Council members. Her accolades both within the Morgan community and out are countless. In 2006, Conklin was named AMHA’s Youth of the Year and proudly represented Morgan youth in England. To this very day she continues to receive kudos on her exceptional devotion and hard work as a Youth of the Year representative.

Aside from competing in scores of local and national horse shows, Conklin also enjoys volunteering with nearby handicap riding programs where she assists disabled adults and children learn to ride and care for Morgans. Over the past several years she has accumulated over 300 volunteer hours working with such therapy stables. She is an enthusiastic mentor, exceptional role model, and deserving recipient of this year’s Youth Achievement Award.

The AMHA Youth Achievement Award is an annual award presented to a deserving youth member based on an accumulation of points in a variety of areas, who have demonstrated a commitment to AMHA, AMHA Youth Programs, the Morgan horse, and their community.

In accordance with requests from the Youth Board, Youth Steering Committee, and the AMHA Youth Department, the point system was added this year to allow youths of all ages, backgrounds, and geographic locations to participate. For similar reasons, the Award was also opened to Morgan riders who may not necessarily own their Morgan. As a result, emphasis has been placed on service to the community as well as local clubs and breed promotion in addition to traditional extensive youth program participation.