Hannah Hiiva, a junior at Yelm High School, was not always proud of being known as “the horse girl” when she was younger. Although her parents tell her that she came out of the womb liking horses, her classmates viewed it in a negative light.
But as she piles up accolades and professional opportunities stemming from her involvement with the Arabian Horse Youth Association (AHYA), Hiiva has realized that the title isn’t such a bad thing.
She was recently named the 2024 AHYA Youth of the Year during a ceremony in Reno, Nevada, and received a perpetual trophy and a $5,000 scholarship. She is in her second year as the youth director for AHYA Region 5, which covers Alaska, Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana.
The Youth of the Year award honors one outstanding youth member who exemplifies character and dedication to excellence in academic and community achievements, as well as contributions to the Arabian horse industry and association, according to a press release.
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.
“It means a lot to me because it’s usually a senior who wins. It shows all the hard work that I’ve done within the association,” she said of winning the national Youth of the Year award. “Over the past three years, it has been girls from Region 5 that have won the award, so that’s a big deal for our region.”
Hiiva helps Region 5 with social media marketing as the chair of the association’s national social media committee. She also supports the AHYA in fundraising as she has helped the association raise more than $12,000 this year alone.
When she received the call that she was the Youth of the Year for the association, Hiiva was overwhelmed and said it was difficult to keep the secret for three weeks leading up to the ceremony. When her name was called in Reno, she stood in front of the crowd and gave a short speech.
“They told me to keep it a secret, and I’m usually a good secret keeper, but my best friend kept asking me, so I couldn’t keep it anymore,” Hiiva said. “It was really cool to go up on stage and hold my trophy.”
Hiiva plans to use her scholarship money, which includes $1,500 awarded from being named the first runner-up last year, toward her college fund. She hopes to study business marketing and pursue a career that allows her to use her skills in social media marketing, photography and videography.
The journey to becoming Youth of the Year and her heavy involvement in the Arabian horse community was never easy for Hiiva. Born and raised in Roy, she first started showing horses at the age of 9, and her family bought her first gray gelding when she was 10.
Building a relationship with the horse was difficult and often frustrating, but Hiiva appreciates the challenge that came with understanding her horse.
“There were a lot of times where I would get in the car and drive home, and I would just cry because it was hard. I appreciate that because not everything in life is gonna be easy,” she said.
“The horses have taught me that everyone has bad days and so do the horses. It’s been really hard with my horse just figuring out how we work together, and I think we’re finally at the point where it’s working.”
With her campaign as Youth of the Year, Hiiva intends to bring awareness to the Arabian breed and educate those who believe the stereotype that Arabian horses are “halter horses.” This topic close to her heart was the subject of one of her essays as part of her interview for the award.
“We typically have a stereotype, and people have a certain perception of our breed that is usually not true. We have this thing called halter, [in] which we encourage the horses to be really excited and have a lot of spirit,” Hiiva said. “Usually that’s how our breed is perceived, and that consists of only about 5% of all of our horses. I definitely want to focus on bringing some more education and trying to change the stereotype of the Arabian horse and get people to understand that they’re not all halter horses. The Arabian horse breed is really great, and you can do so many things with them.”
Hiiva’s parents were never involved with horses until she took an interest in them, and now they have shown horses thanks to her coaching. She thanks them and the friends she’s made in the community for helping her accomplish her goals and abolish the negative connotation surrounding being a “horse girl.”
“I think I’ve always been known as the horse girl, and through middle school, I wasn’t very proud of that. I tried to ignore and not acknowledge that I was involved in horses because… I don’t want to say that I was made fun of for it, but it wasn’t a good thing to some people,” Hiiva said. “Now that I’m in high school, I think it’s a great thing because horses have taught me a lot and they’ve given me a lot of opportunities.
“There was a time that I was ready to stop doing it. It was more stressful than it was fun. I’m really glad I got through that. Now, I find the joy in it,” she continued.
Along with her involvement in the AHYA, Hiiva is the Arabian breed delegate for the United States Equestrian Foundation, a Running Start student at South Puget Sound Community College, the YHS Associated Student Body public relations officer, the YHS yearbook editor-in-chief and a student representative on the Yelm Community Schools Board of Directors. She is also involved in her local FFA chapter and runs her own photography and videography social media page called Maroon Media.
