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HIGH POINT — For 16-year-old Erin Arnold, her DNA explains a lot.

There’s her great granddad, judge Julius Smith of Greensboro, who helped organize the famed Sedgefield Horse Show in the ’30s and ’40s.

Then there’s her grandparents, Marian Smith and the late Julius C. Smith III of Greensboro, who had a passion for horses unrivaled in the area.

Their daughter, Mimi Smith, inherited that passion. She married Johnny Arnold, a straight-shooting former racehorse jockey who cut his teeth riding horses in the Midwest.

Five years ago, they bought a 30-acre spread off Squire Davis Road north of High Point and turned it into an immaculately kept horse ranch they call Olde Barn Farm. There, Arnold and a ranch hand tend the property while Smith offers riding lessons.

Which brings us back to Erin, their daughter.

“I started riding horses before I was old enough to crawl,” Erin says. “It’s just what I love to do.”

And she does it exceptionally well.

Earlier this month, she competed in the Freedom Open Classic Horse Show in Williamston and returned with a saddle full of trophies. Among her hardware were the top-points titles in western pleasure, hunt seat, hunter type and reserve. And she was the event’s top overall points winner — a rare feat for one so young.
“I don’t really know how she does it,’’ her mother said. “She’s just amazing.”

Erin took two horses to the Williamson show — a 6-year-old black quarter horse named Jag (his show name is Fancy Lookin’ Chex) and Nemo, a smoky-gray 5-year-old quarter horse (aka My Last Mombo).

The show — part of the East Coast Open Show Circuit — was no county fair, either. It attracted 375 of the top equestrians from states in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In some of the events, the rider is judged. In others, the horses are. The horse-judged events often have multiple riders. But not Erin.
“She did it all herself,’’ her mother said.

“I’ve had trainers tell me she’s just a natural,” her dad said. “She’s just got natural ability. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Her future? Erin says she hopes to continue riding competitively. And after she finishes high school at Guilford Day, she wants to attend a college that offers an equestrian program.

“Hopefully, I can go to a school like N.C. State or St. Andrews or Averett that have programs for horses,” Erin said. “It’d be nice if High Point (University) would offer something like that. I’d love that.”

By Charlie Atkinson. Contact Charlie at 373-7066 or catkinson@news-record.com