06/06/2026
❤️🐴 RESERVE NATIONAL CHAMPION 🐴❤️
🏆🇺🇸 NATIONALS SUCCESS 🇺🇸🏆
What a day. What a moment.
Today at Nationals, I stood with tears in my eyes as our Red Horse riders swept the top placings.
And one result hit especially hard.
John Finegan earned RESERVE NATIONAL CHAMPION.
When John joined Red Horse Training in October 2023, his goal was simple: become a stronger rider for mounted shooting. What followed was extraordinary.
John has cerebral palsy and is partially deaf, but he has never wanted to be defined by either. To us, he’s an equestrian. A horseman. A competitor.
Ride after ride, he showed up and pushed himself. Already an experienced horseman through IHSA, he stepped into a new challenge with IEA and YEDA competition and never looked back.
And he never did it alone.
Our team rallied around him every step of the way. Riders learned to sign announcements and cues so John would never miss important information. That’s what a team does.
Then came Nationals.
John walked into the arena, climbed aboard an unfamiliar horse, trusted his training, and competed against the best riders in the country.
He didn’t just compete.
He became Reserve National Champion.
John, your grit, courage, and love for horses inspire everyone around you. This isn’t a story about limitations. It’s a story about talent, hard work, heart, and perseverance.
We couldn’t be prouder.
❤️ Congratulations, Reserve National Champion John Finegan.
YEDA - Youth Equestrian Development Association, Inc