Sharon Conway and CR Hershey Bar
Not many achievements can top the feeling of raising your own horse, followed by succeeding with that same horse many times over.
Kelly McDowall’s guidance has influenced Sharon greatly.
Sharon Conway, who rides with McDowall Quarter Horses, says CR Hershey Bar, however, is special for more than just the fact that she raised him. “I had a really great show mare, Shes A Hershey Bar, and she got hurt when she was about 10. We were told we had one chance to get an embryo from her and they thought they were going to have to put her down. So I had two weeks to find a stud to get in contract.”
VS Code Red was the hot thing then, she explains, and everything lined up. “So I picked him, and from that, I got ‘Milton.’ So that’s why he’s named CR Hershey Bar – because I wanted to name him for his mom.”
“Candy,” Milton’s mom, had other ideas about her time on this earth, and she persevered and survived, and they’ve had several other babies out of her.
CR Hershey Bar is 11 now, and he made a name for himself as a Junior horse, then Sharon’s son, Zach Mullis, picked up the reins for 14-18 events, succeeding at Western Pleasure, Western Riding, and Trail.
When Zach went to college, Sharon considered selling Milton, but everyone else told her to keep him. “And I’m really glad I did. I moved him to Kelly’s right after the pandemic and started working on trying to get better in all my events and get more consistent.” As her confidence grew and she became more focused and connected with Milton, practicing on a different horse at home and working with a trainer at home, she saw her success level rise.
In a barn full of great riders, Sharon has found herself inspired.
But humbly, though Sharon says the reasons for their success are: a little bit of time, developing confidence, a lot of desire, and staying focused, the other reasons are simply “letting my horse do his job and staying out of his way!”
Kelly has influenced her riding tremendously. “He makes me focus on my riding – there is no other option. I’ll be at the barn, and I’ll think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do horsemanship – Kelly’s out there because I know I’ll get yelled at.’ And then I think, ‘No, he’s one of the best and this is why you went to him, so just keep working.’”
The fact that Sharon has also gotten into shape this year has affected her performance positively as well, since she works out and trains each morning.
Despite the fact that her barn is full of talented riders who have dominated Horsemanship, Sharon says they’re very inspiring to her. “It’s hard not to really try to be good in this barn – I’m very competitive, but I’m quiet about it. I’m behind the scenes saying, okay, I’ve got to do this.”
Clinching the top spot in the circuit for Amateur Select Horsemanship at the 2024 Arizona Fall Championship is the perfect demonstration of Sharon reaching for and exceeding her goals.
