Youth competitor Charlotte Selby tried out a few sports including soccer and volleyball before finding her calling showing horses. Growing up in Sammimish, Wisconsin the 19-year-old only child of Scott Selby and Krista White began taking lessons at a local barn as an after school activity.

“I was mediocre at volleyball and hysterically bad at soccer. I loved knowing that I was good at this and I just loved being around the horses,” Charlotte recalled. “My mom really likes horses and rode a little when she was younger, but never really went anywhere with it. I guess she really wanted me to try it and I don’t think she thought I would get so serious about it.”

She began showing in 4-H at the age of 9, and according to Charlotte, it was a bit of a disaster, though at the time she didn’t know it. Her first horse, Willow, was a less than stellar partner for the young rider and would often rear. The Selbys enlisted the help of May and Mike Edwards of Monroe, Washington and together they found the perfect partner for Charlotte in A Lil Bit Lethal. The team found great success in the show pen, but Charlotte says she will always remember her first prize.

“I was at my first Quarter Horse show in Medford, Oregon, and saw the t-shirts that were the first place prize and I was determined to win one. Luckily enough I won under one judge in the 13 & Under Western Pleasure and so I ran back to my stall and put my horse away and literally sprinted to the prize booth and ran back to the stalls to show everyone what I won. Everyone in my barn signed my shirt and to this day I still have it,” Charlotte said. “It’s probably one of my fondest memories with Mike and May and my barn in general. It’s crazy to look back at that shirt and think of all that has changed.”

After that Charlotte and A Lil Bit Lethal went on to be a force in several all around events including Novice Youth and Youth Performance Halter Mares, Showmanship, Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle, Horsemanship, and Western Pleasure. They capped off their career together by winning the Showmanship at the AQHA Level 1 Championship West and were 6th in the Horsemanship that same year.

It was then time for Charlotte to find a new show partner for the last of her youth years and the family again turned to May and Mike Edwards. This time they found a 2005 sorrel mare by Invitation Only and out of Black And Elegant named Whos All Invited (aka Sally) for Charlotte. For Charlotte’s last year as a youth they will compete in Performance Halter Mares, Showmanship, Equitation, Horsemanship, and Western Pleasure as Charlotte chases her biggest goal, an AQHA World Show globe.

“Sally has many nicknames including but not limited to: Sallysaurus, Sallysaurus Rex, Dinosaur, Fatty and Queen. She’s the queen of the barn, not in the sense that she’s mare-ish or misbehaved but she gets everything she wants and the royal treatment. If I get there in the morning to ride and she’s taking her post-breakfast nap, I have to wait until she decides to get up, I can’t just make her get up,” Charlotte said. “She also is a treat addict. I keep her treats inside the tack room so any time I go in there and get something I have to bring a treat out because I can’t resist the cute and “puppy eye” face she gives me. Now that I’m at college I’m 95 percent sure Mike has been giving her treats while I’m gone because she still expects them.”

Charlotte said she has developed a very special bond with Mike and May Edwards over the years and thinks of them as second parents.

“Mike and May Edwards have really made me who I am today. They’ve shaped me and made it possible for me to be a responsible adult and I’m so thankful for them,” Charlotte said. “In all honesty they’re like second parents to me and have helped me more than words can say both inside and out of the show pen.”

Charlotte is a freshman at Baylor University where she competes on the school’s equestrian team. Most people would be surprised to know she speaks four languages including English, French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. She is planning on studying International Business and Business French and is hoping to go to law school after graduation. She would like to work for the International Criminal Court in Europe and work on prosecuting war and international crimes. She also enjoys hanging out with her friends and going sailing with her dad.