It’s the feeling she gets when she enters the show pen that keeps 13-year-old Rylee Morris of Nelsonville, Ohio interested in horses.

“It’s great being able to do what I love,” she says. “I live my dream every time I show.”

Her sister, Ashley Wood, is a professional trainer and propped Rylee up on a horse for the first time when she was just 18-months-old.

“I fell in love and eventually started showing and traveling to shows,” she explains.

Wood and her partner, JD Koffel operate AW Performance Horses and train Western Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle and all-around horses. Now Rylee travels all over with them and shows nearly every weekend.

Her show partner this year, Willy Good Investmnt, is a 2011 gray gelding by Winnies Willy out of Investment Award.

“People call him grandpa because he has a lot of white on his head and he has a grouchy personality and is super quiet and slow,” Rylee says.

Rylee has been showing Willy Good Investmnt in 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure classes, Novice Youth and 13 & Under Youth Western Pleasure this fall. They will be competing at the Quarter Horse Congress in 12-14 Youth Western Pleasure and Novice Youth Western Pleasure.

 “The most tricky part about showing ‘Grandpa’ is to keep him going, and my strategy is to let him do his job, I trust him to know what he’s doing and he never lets me down,” she explains.

Earlier this year, at A Little Futurity in Raleigh, North Carolina, Rylee showed Forever Krymsun to a win in the All-Age Walk-Trot Western Pleasure and placed seventh in Novice Youth Western Pleasure.

Rylee credits her first horse, Fluid Movement, a 1993 bay mare sired by TNT Fluid Fred and out of Magnificent Beau, with giving her a solid foundation. She showed her in Halter, Showmanship, and Lead Line and won plenty of prizes. But she says she is most proud of placing 12th at the Congress last year in Youth Performance Halter Geldings with Roansome Cowboy, a 2004 red roan gelding by Ima Zippo Goodbar and out of a A Zippin Cowgirl.

“I felt very privileged to be ranked in the top 15 out of 76 very nice horses,” she says.

Rylee’s favorite class is Hunter Under Saddle because “I like to go fast but not too fast!”

She most admires her cousin, Bailee Wood.

“She’s 16 and also she showed horses when she was younger,” Rylee explains. “She sold her horse and focused more on her involvement with school activities, but all she talks about is wanting to show again.”

Rylee is the daughter of Chris and Malia Morris and when she is not at shows she is very busy at school. She is an eighth grade student at Logan Hocking Middle school where she is a cheerleader and participates in basketball and track. She has in the past competed on the school’s Archery Team as well She was second in the state of Ohio, and eighth in the Nation.

“Although I do not participate on the archery team any longer. I still hunt and shoot with my dad,” she says.

Rylee is very dedicated to her school work. She would like to attend Kentucky State University in Frankfort and major in medical sciences.

“I would like to be a physician,” she says.

She knows that will take a lot of hard work so she is enjoying the time she gets now to show horses.

“The kids in my class think it’s neat that I get to travel around the U.S. and that I get to see different places,” Rylee says.

Although she says she doesn’t watch a lot of television, when she does take the time, Rylee enjoys programs like Animal Planet or the History Channel.

Rylee has one dog, a Rottweiler named Casey.

“She is very sweet, and very protective,” she explains.

She also likes spending time with her family and especially the vacations they take together.

“My favorite vacation was when we went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,” she says. “We saw sharks, dolphins, and a bunch of animals I have never seen nor heard of! We went to a very large aquarium.”

Rylee loves to go to horse shows. She’s especially fond of A Little Futurity because of warm weather. She works hard to improve but tries not to put too much pressure on herself.

For now…she just wants to enjoy the horses and have fun!