East Aurora Advertiser

Perseverance leads to success for East Aurora Graduate



Kelsey Voss, a  2018 graduate of East Aurora High School, has been riding a horse since she was 8-years-old. She loves animals, so much so she asked her mom and dad to help finance the purchase of a wild horse.

Kelsey explains, “In that first half-year of owning a wild horse from the state of Wyoming, we kept her at an Elma ranch. I’ll admit I was overconfident in thinking I could bring her to be a riding horse so soon. One day when I was riding, she threw me after a large loud noise outside. Not sure where the noise came from.

Kelsey Voss stands next to Nevaeh, a wild horse from Wyoming State that was saved now lives locally at an East Aurora horse ranch. Photo by Forrest Fisher

“Anyway, my hand got caught in the reins and she dragged me around the barn for about a half-minute at full running gallop. She was scared, I was scared, and I was screaming and yelling, asking her to stop. After 15 seconds or so, she did stop, thank goodness. Thank God. I talked to her and tried to calm her down. I was able to disconnect from the rein and I tore up some of my clothes to bandage the horse. The back legs of the horse were cut and bleeding, but I was not even thinking to call anyone for help. It was then that I realized my legs, arms and face were bruised, cut and bleeding too. I did not realize I was in shock, but I could not find my phone to call anyone. Then I saw it and the phone was not broken. A quick hospital visit healed me in fairly short order, but I was more concerned about the horse. Stitched and casted, I went back to talk with her, I think she understood I was there to help her. We’ve been best friends ever since.”

Kelsey became interested in horses from her sister, Kiley. After a car accident, Kelsey stopped riding, but soon after, started riding at the Lothlorien Therapeutic Riding Center to get back into horse life. Her first horse was Allie with the Hillside Riders in Colden, NY. 

“Allie was such a sweet horse and a beautiful horse,” says Kelsey, “But too soon, Allie passed away from old age.” 

The Erie County Fair 2019 4-H Grand champion was Kelsey Voss from East Aurora. Here she is riding ‘Tage,’ a handsome but difficult horse to ride.

Kelsey now rides Psybotage, but states “he is not such a sweet horse, and he is a tough horse, though he has a sweet personality. Yes, horses have personalities,” giggles Kelsey. “He is nicknamed “Tage” and I’ve been riding him since 2016. He tested me a lot that first year, but now, we get along very well.”

Kelsey detailed, “When horses like ‘Tage have lots of youth riders, they get bored easily and they don’t necessarily want to work all the time. Every rider uses different rein and foot pressure to turn the horse and steer the horse and control horse speed and tempo. ‘Tage is an older and experienced horse, and he takes advantage of riders who are not in firm, but gentle control.” 

“As I became more of an advanced rider, ‘Tage learned that he could not take advantage of me all the time. Quite honestly, I think we became friends too, and we understood each other. He seems to now let me ride him without demanding that I get off, like he does with many other youthful riders. Still, I need to be careful, as ’Tage can be a bit reckless that way, he has signals that he gives and I have learned to understand many of those now.”

“He has thrown me once and my tailbone was broken. It scared me, yes, but I got over it. After that, I needed to ride with a cushion for quite a while and even sit with one in school. I needed to get my confidence back up then, too, and I did, riding another more calm horse. Then it was back to ‘Tage and, as I sort of mentioned earlier, he knows me now.”

Kelsey was showing in the 4-H competition at the Erie County Fair this year doing English Performance Classes. This is about being basically judged in “Huntseat” competition from ground-view judges and is based on the riding class you are in. This includes how well you ride, execute a pattern, work together with a horse, show ease of riding with a horse – that’s in a class called pleasure, and there are other classes. This seeks to answer the question: “Does your horse look nice and easy to ride? With ‘Tage this is a bigger than normal challenge, but I like the challenge.” 

“‘Tage still tests me to see if he can get away with anything, but we have been really good the last year or two.”

“With my wild horse, we named her “Nevaeh” (heaven spelled backwards), she has been with me now for almost two years and life is so good with her after that first nasty experience. We keep her at P&B Ranch in Holland and I visit her every other day at the least. It took me more than a year to be able to ride her, as wild horses are not used to a saddle, people, other tame horses, a barn and all that. I simply love Nevaeh. I owe much credit to wild-horse expert, Mr. John Matthewson, who is my mentor there. He helped me learn so much about understanding wild horses and other horses in general.” 

“My goal at the fair was to simply participate. It’s my last year this year. The 4-H Youth Development Agricultural program is for ages 8 through 18, the H’s stand for head, heart, hand and health. 4-H certainly helped me understand the meaning of all those words and it helps most other kids that get involved with 4-H in WNY as well. I have learned so much in this program and 4-H has given me a direction in my life to become a veterinarian. I owe many thanks to Joanne and Mike Campbell that run Chestnut Hill Arabian’s Ranch in Colden, NY, and their youth group, Hillside Riders. I’m so proud to be a part of this member horse group – it’s educational, competitive, academic, and intellectual, and with focus on all that, Joanne and Mike make it fun!”

The Erie County Fair 4-H Grand Champion was Kelsey’s highest accomplishment in terms of competitive horse training academics was via 4-H public speaking when she won the New York State 4-H competition in Syracuse, NY, in 2016. Winning that, she represented New York in a similar national competition in Kentucky. She finished third nationally, bringing wonderful recognition to her home, her horse family, and her parents, Sheri and Dieter Voss from East Aurora. 

“My mom, dad, grandparents and so many others took the time to drive me to the barn, competitions, and between the cities often too,” says Kelsey. 

Through all this, Kelsey had to work harder than others, as she had contracted Lyme disease after being misdiagnosed with other ailments for about four years. After three years of treatment, she is now in the state of Lyme remission and “normal people life.” She has overcome a lot to be a successful horse person and she is currently attending Medaille College studying in their pre-Vet course in Buffalo, where she is on the dean’s list. 

How did she do in the 4-H competition at the 2019 Erie County Fair? Believe it or not, riding ‘Tage, Kelsey was unanimously named 4-H Grand Champion, the highest riding award at the fair. From what I can see as grandfather of this fine young lady, bring on the horses and your spirit will never be broken. That singing group, America, with that song “A Horse with No Name,” might be proud of this young lady from East Aurora. 

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