In both horse shows and pageants, judges evaluate contestants and compare them to others. They’re picking out things that set competitors apart and make them better than someone else.

At 17, Abby Floyd is an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Youth World and Reserve World Champion and in January she was crowned Miss Arkansas Teen USA after only her second year competing.

“In both things, you just have to realize it’s someone else’s opinion and you can’t let that get to you,” says the Searcy native. “Some days they like you and some days they don’t.”

Floyd’s parents, Ricky and Kim, were both involved with horses as children, but took a break to start a family. Once the kids were a bit older, they picked up where they left off, this time with their daughter in tow.  Floyd started showing six years ago after falling for the Palomino halter horse her father bought named Barbie.

“I just thought it was the coolest thing ever that we had the same hair color,” she remembers. “I knew from then on out that I had to start showing horses.”

Floyd has shown halter ever since and has had success within AQHA, placing in the Top 10 and Top 5 at the Youth World. Eventually, she earned an AQHA 2012 Youth World and 2013 Reserve World Championship with 2011 halter mare, Candys Mirror Image, by Dominates Image and out of Casino Candy. Floyd also owns Ms Coupe Deville, a 2012 mare by Mazzerati and out of Call Me Phenomenal. Both hater mares are in training with Monte and Anna Horn of Terry, Mississippi.

“I can’t say enough good things about her, she surprises me. You think that you’ve got Abby figured out and then she throws you a curve ball and she’ll put on a pair of rubber boots and you’ll see her outside washing everybody’s horses,” Anna Horn gushes. “That girl loves horses. She just lives, eats and breathes it.”

Wallace Heck raised “Candy” and the Horns showed her at a few local shows in Mississippi and Aransas, Floyd admired the mare from afar. Finally, the yearling was hers.

The one thing Horn admires most is the fact that the young competitor has not allowed her success to go to her head. She’s stayed grounded through it all.

“I can’t wait to watch her grow up and see what she does with her life because it’s going to be something very special,” Horn insists.

Surprisingly, Floyd admits that throughout the majority of her show career, she didn’t ride because of her dedication to the halter classes. Once she did start riding, just last year, she started training with Jeff Honey of Greenbrier, Arkansas and ended up purchasing two Western Pleasure horses. Hot And Dreamy is a 2007 mare by Blazing Hot and out of Lopins Dream and Hot Girly Girl is a 3-year-old by Blazing Hot and out of Unzip The Chip.

Floyd is also very pssionate about modeling.

“I love being in front of the camera, it’s just so comfortable for me,” says Floyd. “I’ve gotten some amazing opportunities.”

These opportunities include modeling for Tony Bowls, Dillard’s, Varsity Cheer and Dance, Justine Magazine, as well as Seventeen Magazine.

“It’s been so cool getting phone calls from my friends saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I saw you on a billboard!’”

Modeling opened up a whole new world to Floyd and not long after she started modeling Floyd discovered pageants. In 2012, she competed in the Miss Arkansas Teen USA competition and ended up placing in the Top 15.

“I decided I was just going to work extra hard and come back the next year and I ended up winning,” she says.

On Aug. 5, just after capturing her AQHA Youth Reserve World Championship, Floyd was off to the Bahamas to compete in the 2013 Miss Teen USA pageant on Aug. 10. Participants are judged on a private interview before the live coverage of the pageant. The girls who make it to the next round go through an evening gown and swimsuit competition. Floyd made it all the way to the Top 16 of 51 states and regions.

One cause Floyd spoke about during pageants was her family’s struggle with cancer. She lost both of her grandmothers to the disease and her father has fought and is a survivor of colon cancer. Because of this family experience, Floyd says she would like to someday work with the American Association of Cancer Research. She has also expressed her desire to be part of the anti-bullying movement saying, “Bullying has become such a big issue lately with all this social media and new technology.”

Besides the horses, Floyd has three dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier named Jack and two Labradors, Bo and Daisy, as well as a cat named Kitty.

“We tried so hard to come up with a good name. His name was originally Blue, but then his eyes turned green so we just gave up and named him Kitty,” she chuckles.

Because Floyd is so busy with modeling, competing at horse shows and in pageants she enrolled into a homeschool program, A Beka Academy, this past January. Before she won her title however, the youth used to cheer competitively and for her school team.

When she does have a bit of down time, she says she enjoys watching Duck Dynasty, listening to country music, and spending time with her sister Audra, 24, and her brother Austin, 21.

As for future plans, Floyd says she wants horses to continue to be a part of her life.

“I’ve played around with a lot of different options. I really want to go into something in the animal field, of course. I’d love to do vet work or something like that.”