Yelm High School junior Hannah Hiiva has built quite the resume just two and a half years into her high school career.
Her latest accomplishment is the 2024 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Youth Sportsman's Award, received at a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, last month. The award is given to future leaders within the equine industry from across all breeds and disciplines who demonstrate an ongoing commitment and dedication to the promotion of equestrian sport.
Hiiva’s award, which includes a commemorative trophy and a $1,000 grant, comes just over two months after she earned the 2024 Arabian Horse Youth Association (AHYA) Youth of the Year Award. She is in her second year as the youth director for AHYA Region 5, which covers Alaska, Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana. Hiiva, who was the first runner-up for the Youth of the Year award in 2023, also won the AHYA national title in showmanship in July of 2023 and a reserve national championship in showmanship in July of 2024.
She believed she wouldn’t have a chance at the USEF award after being nominated by the Arabian Horse Association and then applying for it.
“It was really interesting because I had just found out about the AHYA one, and I didn’t think that I had a chance with the USEF one because that’s a really big deal,” Hiiva said. “It was very surprising, and I’m very grateful that I got to go.”
She learned of her victory in the fall, and her win was announced in a USEF news release on Dec. 9. During the awards ceremony in January, Hiiva gave a speech on stage highlighting her experience with the Arabian horse breed.
“The Arabian horse has taught me many things and taken me many places. Through my involvement in horses, I have learned perseverance, determination, confidence and that you are never going to 100% stay on the path that you had mapped out for yourself. That is 100% OK,” she said in her speech.
Hiiva said that while adding awards and honors to her resume is important, she appreciates the opportunity to practice networking within the equine industry, public speaking and traveling.
“I think the networking part is the most important thing in going to all of these. It’s not even receiving an award,” she said. “I’ve been able to talk a lot with Olympic gold medalist David O’Connor. He’s an incredible inspiration to me. He spent a lot of time with me and the other youth who were there.”
Hiiva wants to continue to show the horse community that Arabian horses are an important and versatile breed. She said the awards are validation for her work and efforts to bring awareness to the breed.
“We’re the example to all the breeds and disciplines of how much we do, and I think we recognize the most that youth are the future,” Hiiva said. “I think we’re a great example of what every association could be like. It’s really great to see people from other disciplines see the stuff that our horses do. I really feel a lot of validation. I go through spouts of not feeling motivated to ride, but whenever I get to go to these types of things, I get new motivation.”