Horse & Rider USA – September 2019

Fall 2019 / 65

wens during her reining career, but the

one she’s most proud involved riding at

the FEI North American Junior/Young

Riders Championship and representing

the United States. Her team took home

gold, but that wasn’t the part that meant

the most to Bauwens.

“There were so many obstacles that I

had to overcome to go to Kentucky, and

to actually get there and work with a

team to represent my country was an

amazing experience,” Bauwens says.

“Taking home gold was the icing on the

cake, but this was a really good cake.

Just being there was amazing, getting

to see the different disciplines, meeting

new riders, standing on the podium.”

Trainer Wendy Huss also remembers

this moment fondly. “Rick Christen,

another customer of ours, allowed Alex

to take Heza Bigtime Bingo to Lexington,

Kentucky,” Wendy says. “She works hard

and soaks up every word when practic-

ing, so it was such a special moment to

see her take home the gold medal.”

A Cross-Country Move

At the age of 10, Alex came home from

a family vacation in Arizona feeling

homesick for a state she never lived

in. The feeling seemed to stick around

every time Bauwens left the desert,

leaving her with the choice of staying in

Illinois or heading 1,700 miles west.

“I had recently completed an art ap-

prenticeship and decided I needed to do

something for myself,” she explains. “So I

got a dog, packed my bags, and relocated

to Arizona.”

Dan and Wendy Huss had also

recently made the move from Illinois

to Scottsdale, Arizona, giving Bauwens

even more reason to take a chance and

move away from home.

Horseless and living in a new state,

Bauwens had to get creative with how

she could get her horse fix. She still had

the opportunity to ride at the Husses

any time she wanted to, but she was

ready to branch out and test her skills in

a new riding discipline.

“I was really interested in mounted

shooting,” she explains. “But one day

when my mom and I were driving home

from the Husses, we came across a truck

that had a sign advertising mounted

archery lessons. I jotted down the

contact info and called the next day and

scheduled a lesson.”

On top of venturing into the world

of mounted archery, trail riding was

another outlet Bauwens wanted to ex-

plore—even after a mishap left her lost

in the desert.

After a practice session with the

Husses, she decided to take one of the

show horses out on a quick ride, think-

ing she would be gone for 20 minutes

or so. Pre-iPhone and new to the area,

TOP: An artist by trade,

Bauwens loves to incorporate

horses into her artwork.

BOTTOM: Decked out in

fringe, Bauwens successfully

showed reiners as a youth.

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