Vicki Wilson fell in love with Kentucky.
And now Kentucky is coming home with her.
No, not the US state, known for its horse racing and bourbon distilleries.
That's the name of the wild horse the Whangarei woman tamed within three hours to claim the winning purse of US$100,000 ($142,000) during a Western-style competition at the World Championship of Colt Starting event at the Road to the Horse show.
The four competitors had to pick their top four choices of horses for the Kentucky-based event.
They then had their names drawn out of a hat to determine who would get first pick.
Ms Wilson's name was picked second and she chose number 12, an untouched 3-year-old bay colt, who she named Kentucky, after the location of the competition.
"He was more of a very relaxed open mover. He moved very easily throughout his body. He was aware of the other horses. He wasn't mean or aggressive to the other horses and kept out of their way.
"There was something very special about him he's kind of a similar look to Argo and Major and they are very important horses in my life. There was just something special about him."
She loved him so much, she has decided to bring the American Quarter Horse home - subject to his passing quarantine regulations.
She said it would cost about $34,000 to fly Kentucky to New Zealand.
"The amount of trust the horses show was pretty incredible. There's not many horses that would've gone around that course in that stadium with the atmosphere in that limited time frame.
"Kentucky got better and better throughout the competition."
The combination showed their trust in each other during the obstacle course, which included towing a dummy, walking across a bridge, passing between poles and jumping obstacles. The duo were the only ones of the four competitors to ride on to a tarpaulin on the ground.
"I didn't quit and he didn't quit," Ms Wilson said.
Ms Wilson said usually there is a six-week starting or breaking in session but the competition required competitors to spend three hours, over two days, taming the horse enough to ride it and put it through a tricky obstacle course.
"It's the first time teaching it to lead, to pick up his feet, first time with a rider on his back or obstacles.
"For me it was about making Kentucky my friend first. I didn't want to scare him, I didn't want to cause him unnecessary stress. It was about giving him the time and making him my friend and allowing him time to understand what I was asking," she said.
Kentucky responded well and although Ms Wilson dislocated her shoulder during her first 90-minute training session, she continued and won.
She said she would "definitely be back".
"It was a pretty incredible competition. It was a lot more people than I thought there was going to be.
"There's no other competition quite like it."
Out of the four competitors, three are taking the horses home.
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