Rogue Valley teen aspires for gold medal

Medford, Ore. – Only on NBC 5 News tonight, one Rogue Valley teen is taking a lifetime of practice by the reins and bringing her talents to the world stage. NBC 5’s Matt Jordan explores how the bond between a girl and her horse has brought her to the height of competition.

“It takes a good horse that wants to try for you, that’s brave and careful and willing and same with the rider,” said Annika Faught.

There are few things like it, the bond between a rider and her horse.

“It’s a lot of hard work and you really have to have a bond with your horse and there needs to be mutual trust between you otherwise it’s not going to work.”

That preparation took 17-year-old Annika Faught from the Rogue Valley to the world stage, where she and her horse Quintara were members of the junior Olympics show-jumping team.

“It was fierce competition, there are really good riders and really good horses.”

Annika not only competed, she helped her team to Olympic silver.

“It was an amazing feeling, it was like whoa!”

Annika’s trainer says she never doubted her potential.

“She’s so driven, and she cares so much about excelling and advancing so above everything else, it’s the dedication and the hard work of the kid, the family, everyone involved,” said Lara Schleining

And that dedication helped Annika raise the bar and set her sights on Olympic gold.

© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.

Skip to content