One walks down a long, dark and dusty wooden boardwalk to reach Kate DeBuse’s horse stall. DeBuse’s horse, a 22-year-old paso fino named Sweetie, lives in the 12th stall on the west side of the Fairweather Barn in Juneau. There’s 28 stalls in total in the aged wooden shelter off Industrial Boulevard — 14 on either side of an indoor riding arena.
It’s the spot where DeBuse has begun and ended countless rides with Sweetie to the Mendenhall Wetlands or Brotherhood Bridge Trail. In recent years though, DeBuse has shifted her focus from trail riding in Alaska to show riding in Washington and Oregon.
Last year, the 14-year-old freshman at Juneau-Douglas High School won the State of Oregon/Washington Tennessee Walking Horse Youth Championship.
“Kate’s grown up around horses and she has always just had a big interest and love of horses,” Kate’s mom Theresa Shanley said.
DeBuse has trained with her paso fino, Sweetie, since she was just 8. Her family purchased a Tennessee Walking Horse named Lucille three years ago. Since then, DeBuse has shown Lucille at different shows across Oregon and Washington in the summertime. In order to win the youth championship, DeBuse had to accumulate the most points in a series of summer shows.
“We don’t really show our horses down here too much besides the thoroughbred, but he’s kind getting a little older,” Kate said, referring to her sister Lauren’s horse Dusty. “So it was really cool to just go down there and see all the horses.”
DeBuse began visiting trainer Frank White’s farm in Lebanon, Oregon, a couple years ago at the invitation of former Juneauite Rebecca Easton. Easton purchased a Tennessee Walking Horse from White and allowed Kate to ride her from time to time.
“Eventually I was like, ‘Wow, yeah, I really like doing this,’ so I got Lucille, which is my own Tennessee Walker,” DeBuse said.
White made history as the first African-American to win a Tennessee Walking Horse World Championship in 1993. White fast-tracked both DeBuse and Easton’s riding skills with the unique breed of horses. White noted Kate’s ability to develop a strong bond with horses, in an April email to the Empire.
“Kate is a natural when it comes to riding, and she communicates what she had learned to the horse in a very gentle way,” White said. “Kate and her mare have mutual respect and trust for each other which has taken them to the winner’s circle.”
DeBuse’s mother Theresa Shanley said the shows in Oregon and Washington for the Tennessee Walkers were a brand new experience for them.
“Tennessee Walker showing is totally different than, say, the horse shows we have in Juneau or in Whitehorse where there’s all-breed shows doing walk, trot, cantor,” Shanley said. “Tennessee Walkers kind of have their own gait, so they don’t really compete in those shows.”
There’s only a small contingent of youth involved in horse riding in Juneau, but that has never stopped DeBuse from riding. She has been riding her sister’s horse Dusty since she was 6.
“When she first started riding by herself, she would try him to get him to go and she would kick and kick and kick,” Shanley said. “Her little legs were like a third of the way down his side. (Dusty) would just stand there and look at her. She’d get super frustrated but then … she finally learned it’s really kind of psychological thing, you just have to will them to go.”
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Kate DeBuse watches as her paso fino Sweetie grazes outside the Fairweather Barn, Tuesday, June 7. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Kate DeBuse watches as her paso fino Sweetie grazes outside the Fairweather Barn, Tuesday, June 7. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Kate DeBuse uses a pick to clean Sweetie’s hooves in the Fairweather Barn. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
The Fairweather Barn is home to approximately 24 horses in Juneau. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
