In the past, if you had asked 25-year-old Juliana Arora (formerly Juliana Blackburn-Baskin) what her favorite horse show is, no doubt she would have said the All-American Quarter Horse Congress, held each October in Columbus, Ohio. But if you ask her today, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic that shut down just about all shows in the United States earlier this year, you will get an entirely different answer.

“I am more grateful for any show to happen because we saw how quickly it can be taken away from us,” Arora said.

Juliana grew up at horse shows. Her mother, Susan Blackburn has always ridden and got her daughter into riding and showing at an early age. Juliana had several Lead Line partners but her first real show horse was Surely Awesome, a1995 sorrel mare by An Awesome Mister out of In The Neutral Zone, that she competed on in Walk-Trot classes.

One of the first trainers to work with Juliana was Jonathan Meilleur, who she credits for teaching her to care for and love her horse first.

“That is so very important to me,” she explained.

For the past 10 years Juliana has been under the guidance of Colorado trainer Leslie (Bear) Lange.

“Where do I begin to explain what she has done for my career?” Juliana asked. “She is really a huge part of the rider I am today. She taught me how to look at showing as riding your horse without getting tensed up and got me over my tendency to jab my horse with my legs due to nerves. ‘Please keep your elbows in,’ she would say. I swear I thought she was going to glue them together one summer to help me learn.”

In 2014 Juliana was Reserve Congress Champion in Novice Amateur Horsemanship, riding Floating On Assets (Ellie), a 1999 gray mare by Investment Asset out of Shelly Stack. That motivated her even more to make 2015 – her final year of eligibility in Novice Amateur competition the best it could be. With Lange’s coaching, and additional help from Jeff Mellott, the team did return in 2015 to claim Juliana’s first Congress Championship by winning the Novice Amateur Horsemanship.

“It had been a dream to win the Congress for as long as I had been showing and it was incredible to see it all come true,” Arora said. “Ellie was so good that day and is now happily retired at my family’s place in Batavia, New York.”

Devout competitors are all happy to have horse shows back in action now but perhaps none more than Juliana, who in March started a new chapter in her showing career with the purchase of two different show partners. With Lange’s help, she and her mother started looking for an all-around competitor at the Silver Dollar Circuit in Las Vegas, and found Been Sleepin (Marge), a 2016 sorrel mare by Too Sleepy To Zip and out of Whoz Been Good through Becky George.

“We asked a bunch of people and it fell into place when I rode Marge,” Juliana said.

So far, she has shown Marge in Level 1 Amateur and Amateur Trail but Horsemanship will soon be added to their repertoire.

In July of 2018, Juliana and her husband, Anish, relocated to Plano, Texas and she currently works as a Logistics, Distribution and Transportation coordinator for PepsiCo. Juliana met Anish while attending Rochester Institute of Technology, where she majored in International Business and minored in Communication, Marketing, and Spanish. In the fall of 2015, while pledging to be a brother of Delta Sigma Pi coed business fraternity, she met Anish.

“As an incoming brother, I had to interview all the existing brothers to get a grasp on the fraternity and learn more,” she explained. “I interviewed Anish and we immediately connected. We were together 38 days before I left to study abroad in Spain for three months and we made it work.”

In May of 2017, Juliana received her Bachelor of Science degree in International Business from RIT and in September she and Anish were married at Bristol Harbour, overlooking Canandaigua Lake in New York.

“Since Anish is originally from India we were also fortunate enough to go back to India in December to be married there as well on Dec. 9 2017.”

So far, Juliana and Anish are enjoying life in Texas.

“There is so much to do around the area, we can travel anywhere, and I am close to my horses which is really nice,” she said. “Since moving I have been able to show my horses so much more!”

Ironically, after a very lengthy search with the help of Gil and Becky Galyean, Juliana also found her perfect Western Pleasure partner in The Dark Impulse (Joy), a 2014 bay mare by RL Best Of Sudden out of Dark Jasmine.

Arora is showing Joy in Level 1 Amateur and Amateur Western Pleasure, as well as in Non-Pro Maturity classes and Gil Galyean shows her in Level 1 Senior Western Riding and some Senior Western Pleasure classes.

“Thankfully, Joanie Zelnio was willing to sell the mare to us,” Arora said.

Juliana is excited to get to know her new horses better and just have some fun showing.

“There is nothing like riding a horse to clear your mind of anything going on,” she said. “Whenever I get on Joy or Marge it seems the day fades away and I am focused on only them and I love that feeling.”

But Arora also enjoys the challenge of competition and striving to get better with each ride.

“If I ride my horses well and they are good, I can’t ask for much more,” she said. “I look forward to showing at the AQHA World Show, I have never shown there so that will be fun.”

Juliana is also grateful for all the people who helped and supported her along her path to success in the show industry – starting with her mom; dad, Bill Baskin. There have been numerous trainers – including Meilleur, Lange, the Galyeans, Mellott, George, Robyn Storey, Jeff Long and Susan Witts –who all provided her with valuable guidance along the way.

“It really does take a village,” Juliana said, “and I try to take a piece from everyone that helps me.”

            Amateur Profiles are part of InStride Edition’s editorial content. If you know someone who would make a good subject for an amateur profile email Corrine Borton, Editor, at: CorrineBorton@InStrideEdition.com.