SPOTLIGHT
KENTUCKY CALLING
Laila Murad’s Journey to Pony Finals PHOTOS: KATIE BROWNE PHOTOGRAPHY, CATHRIN CAMMETT PHOTGRAPHY, ALDEN CORRIGAN MEDIA, GRANDPIX PHOTOGRAPHY, MCCOOL PHOTOGRAPHY, SHAWN MCMILLEN, SARA SHIER PHOTOGRAPHY & BAHYA MURAD
THE VERY first signs that Laila Murad was eager to ride came
at the local farmer’s market. Each Saturday, without fail, the then-3-year-old Laila was unswervingly drawn to the ponies at the Marin Country Mart near her home in Tiburon, CA. After a year without outgrowing the weekly ritual, Laila had her parents convinced she should begin formal riding lessons. “At that point, Laila was 4, and we thought maybe she should have a proper lesson,” says Bahya Murad, Laila’s mom. “We tried many different activities —ballet, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, swimming, piano, lacrosse...one by one, they all fell by the wayside. Riding was the only activity she was keen to do.” After two years working on the basics at Patrick Seaton Stables, Laila’s eyes were opened to horse shows when she joined the show team to watch and spend the day at Sonoma Horse Park. And with that, Laila caught the horse show bug as well.
A WINNING START With her first pony, Can’t Deny It (“Cappi”), 6-year-old Laila made her own
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horse show debut at Sonoma Horse Park in September 2017. “We went to the show thinking she was doing Leadline,” said Murad. “But once we were there, Laila was entered in the crossrails division. She had never done a course before; she couldn’t remember which way to go. Everyone was cheering her on and telling her which jump to do next. She ended up with an 8th place ribbon in the under saddle, which was very special. From that experience, Laila knew she really wanted to show and took riding more seriously.” Laila’s next pony, Captain Jack (“Jack”), brought the young rider through the ranks from the crossrail division to the Small Pony Hunter division. In September 2018, at their first show together, they were
champion in the crossrail division. The pair moved up to the Short Stirrup and then again up to the Children’s Pony Hunters and Small Pony Hunters in April 2019, championship ribbons following each step of their way. Shortly thereafter, the lease was ending on Captain Jack, and Laila was ready to move up to the medium division. Traci Brooks of Balmoral had just the right pony for her: Out of the Blue (“Nova”). “We got Nova about five years ago for one of our kids,” Brooks says of the medium pony gelding. “We bought him from a trainer friend in Ohio. We needed a special pony because our client was small and needed a pony with great temperament. Nova knows his job. He’s very brave and confident in himself which makes his rider also feel very confident.” To gain additional miles, Laila also leased the medium pony Farmore Good as Gold (“Aiden”) to campaign alongside Nova. Switching to the Medium Pony Hunters and showing in August within a few days of acquiring Nova and leasing Aiden provided a learning curve for Laila. So she was particularly excited to win blue ribbons with Aiden in the Small/Medium
