Unbridled Excellence
Local equestrian earns top honors at shows
By Anne Marie Kyzer

Tara spins Rolo while riding at Cross Ridge Ranch.

There's a sign in the main barn at Cross Ridge Ranch that reads, "The desire to win is nothing without the desire to prepare."

Local teen Tara Salter has taken those words to heart, and her hard work is paying off big.

The young horsewoman recently claimed big titles in the Quarter Horse show world. Last month, Tara and her horse Cruzin for Chocolate, affectionately called Rolo, won the American Quarter Horse Association's Region 10 Experience All-Around title. Tara and her 5-year-old gelding also recently earned the Youth AQHA Championship. The championship required Tara and Rolo to accumulate points by placing well at AQHA events. The pair earned it over a 16-month period, which her trainer Terri Layer described as "rather fast." Layer, who owns Cross Ridge Ranch with her husband Brad, said few horses ever attain the honor and it often takes at least twice as long for those that do.

Tara just learned this weekend that she and Rolo have also qualified for the prestigious Youth World Show in performance geldings.

Tara and Rolo jog around the arena.

While the duo continues to see success in the arena, Tara will tell you in a heartbeat that it doesn't come easy.

The rising Edmund Burke Academy senior spends nearly all of her spare time at Cross Ridge Ranch. She started lessons at the private training facility outside of Waynesboro about five years ago.

"She spends almost every day of the week out here. She trains with her horse five of those days," Layer said, as she watched Tara brush Rolo down and tighten the cinch on his saddle. "She's very dedicated. She's put in the time, and she's starting to reap the rewards."

Every afternoon during the school year and for as many as 10-12 hours a day in the summer, Tara can be found grooming and lunging horses and helping Layer train them for show. She also saves time each day to work with her main man, Rolo.

Then there's the approximately 24 weekends Tara and Rolo spent competing in about 72 shows last year.

Tara said she couldn't do it without support from her parents, Phillip and Shirley Salter, who "don't miss a one."

"My daddy's my truck driver…and banker," she says with a laugh. "And my mom's my stylist."

Tara said she doesn't mind the time investment a bit, though. She never tires of working with Rolo or on the farm. She's come to call the big liver chestnut her best friend and has developed a love for showing horses.

Tara is the granddaughter of Joyce Salter and the late Avery Salter of Waynesboro, Regis Moore of Millen and Clifford and Kathy Wise of Brooklet.