30 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023 
J
N

A

huva Lange, 10, a fifth-grader 
at Beth Jacob, won third- and 
fifth-place ribbons at the 
Oklahoma Morgan Grand National 
Horse Show. 
Ever since she was a toddler, Ahuva 
was obsessed with horses. Her parents, 
Esther and Nosson Lange, gifted Ahuva 
her first horseback riding lesson for 
her sixth birthday. Instantly, Ahuva was 
hooked. 
“Horses are my passion,” Ahuva said.
Twice a week ever since, the big sister 
to Shayna, 7, and Hadassah, 8 months, 
rides. Over time, she became so skilled 
and graceful a rider, it attracted the 
attention of a local equestrian who was 
eager for her own horse to earn ribbons 
by a talented rider. In August, she asked 
if Ahuva would ride her beloved horse, 
Breezy, in Oklahoma.
“It was an incredible opportunity,” 
Esther said. “Ahuva’s a natural on a 
horse and would make any horse look 
good!”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. After 
upping her practice sessions on Breezy 
to three times a week during September, 
Ahuva packed her suitcases for 
Oklahoma, and then, as Ahuva put it, 

“The worst thing that could happen did 
happen.” Breezy developed pneumonia. 
 Ahuva’s parents felt terrible for her, 
even offering to take her on a vacation 
to anywhere else in the United States 
instead. 
But that’s not how Ahuva rolls. She 
still wanted to go to Oklahoma to sup-
port her team.
Meanwhile, Ahuva’s trainer, Scott 
Nevers from Never Ending Farm 
in Ypsilanti, tried to find a back-up 
horse for Ahuva to ride in the show. 
Ultimately, he found a beautiful but 
sassy horse called Leader, who was only 
3 years old. All the other horses in the 
show were at least 7 or 8 years old.
The night before the show, Ahuva 
mounted Leader for the first time and 
trotted around the rink for five minutes. 
“That’s all the practice she had on 
Leader,” Esther marveled. “But she 
looked beautiful. Even though Ahuva 
felt so crushed, she acted so mature and 
poised. She has a lot of respect for the 
horses and herself. It was a wild story, 

but clearly all from Hashem.”
Ahuva said that as far as she knows, 
she was the only Jewish participant at 
the event and was eager to make a good 
impression. She was thrilled that this 
was the first show they’d heard of that 
did not take place on Shabbat and she 
was able to participate. 
There were riders from all over the 
world and the United States at the show 
who followed the ringmasters’ direc-
tions and led their horses around the 
rink. 
Asked how she felt performing in 
such a crowd, Ahuva replied, “I don’t 
pay attention to the other people; I only 
pay attention to myself and my horse.” 
The three judges voted Ahuva third 
place and fifth place for equitation. 
Ranking-wise, Ahuva is now the top 
third world grand champion horse rider 
in her age category. 
With the new ribbons hanging proud-
ly in her bedroom, the fifth-grader is 
already looking forward to her next 
horse show this winter in Lansing. 

Fifth-Grader 
Wins Big at Grand 
Horse Show

OUR COMMUNITY

Last-minute hiccups didn’t rattle this young rider.

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Ahuva Lange 
shows off 
her ribbon.

Ahuva and 
her horse, 
Leader

H O N O R A R Y 
C H A I R C O M M I T T E E
 
Amy Peterman Abel & 
 Matthew Abel
Allied Printing
Kari & Eddie Alterman
Julie & Larry August
Cindy & Howard Babcock
Dorothy & Eddy Barak
Marianthe & Kenneth Barnett
Elliott Baum & Family
S. Jack Benjamin
Kim & Jeffrey Bigelman
Kim & Bill Blackwell
Janet & James Blanchard
Lauren & Adam Blanck
Roz & Stanford Blanck
Doris & Frederick Blechman
Jean & Howard Bleiwas
Pam & Ken Bloom
Stacey & Alan Borsen
Lisa & Richard Broder
Dina Brodsky
Bruce Ballard/Merrill Lynch
Marjorie & Eric Bryen
Building Beds 4 Kids
Susan & Matthew Burnstein
Helen Charlupski
Elyn & Larry Charlupski
Allan Chernick
City Shield Security Services
Marlene & Jeff Cohen
Patti Kelter & Marc Cohen
Annie & Rob Cohen
Harry Colburn
Connie & Jimmy Colman
Barbara & Jerry Cook
Couzens Lansky
David Horodoker Organization
Margie Dunn & Mark Davidoff
Dana & Jeffrey Dell
Henry & Mala Dorfman Family 
 Foundation
Norma & Michael Dorman 
Tamatha & David Egner

Barbara & Mark Eisenberg
Marsha Eisenberg
Shelley & Michael Eizelman
Employee Health Insurance 
 Management
Encompass Health Care
Joan Chernoff-Epstein & 
 Robert Epstein
Susan & David Feber
Miriam & Fred Ferber
Ferris State University
Jennifer & David Fischer
Gail & Steven Fisher
Jay A. Fishman
Linda & George Fleischer
Madeline & Sidney Forbes
Elisa & Sheldon Freilich
Future Foam
Tina & Robert Garelik
Erica & Ralph Gerson
Lynda & Conrad Giles
Paula & Louis Glazier
GLS Solutions
The Goodman Family
Lyn & Les Gorback 
Karen & Kenneth Goss
Alexis & Scott Grabel
Jenna & Milton Greenman
Gita Greisdorf
Robin & Jason Greisdorf
Roberta Grosinger
Frances & David Grossman
Cheryl Guyer
Raina Ernstoff & Sanford Hansell
Jan & Mark Hauser
Alan Hayman
Henry Ford Health
Richard Herman
Jennifer & Brian Hermelin
Doreen Hermelin
Julie & Edward Hersch
Caryn & Henry Hirsch
Joan & David Hoese
Lori & Richard Hunt
Hunter Pasteur Homes

Renee & Earl Ishbia
Eleanor & Larry Jackier
Katherine & Robert Jacobs
Nancy & Joseph Jacobson
Andrea & David Jacobson
Lilly & Howard Jacobson
Sheri & David Jaffa
Judy & Samuel Jassenoff
Jewish Federation of 
 Metropolitan Detroit
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The Kahan Family
Ilene & Douglas Kahan
Tammy & Jeffrey Kahan
Ilse & Ira Kappy
Barbara & Irvin Kappy
Kathy Broock and Company
Sue & Alan Jay Kaufman
Shari Ferber Kaufman & 
 Alon Kaufman
Shabana & Parvez Khan
Tom Kirvan
Susan & Jeffrey Klein
Stacy & Ronald A. Klein
Sharon Klein
Anessa & David Kramer
Susan Chyette & Eric Krause
Dawn Grimes Kulongowski
Lisa & Daniel Kurzmann
Liz LaKritz
Michael Layne
Gloria Leader*
Nathan Leader
Debbie & Ronald Lederman
Leggett & Platt
Annie & Michael Lehmann
Nicole & Matt Lester
Susan & A. Bart Lewis
Judee & Richard Lewis
Lainie & Kenny Lipschutz
Marilyn & Dov Loketch
Christine & David Lustig
Maddin Hauser
Donna & Michael Maddin
Betsy & David Madorsky

Jolanta & Edward Malinowski
Andrea & Kenneth Marcus
Sharon Maskin
Debbie & Eli Mayerfeld
Michelle & Jody Mendelson
Judith & Bernard Mindell
Karen & Richard Minkin
Candice & Andrew Mitchell
MJS Packaging
Morgan Stanley
Mara & Andrew Moss
Joy & Allan Nachman
Joanne & Fred Novice
Jo Elyn & George Nyman
Rachel & Josh Opperer
Optalis Healthcare
Marcie & Robert Orley
Sally Orley
Tatyana & Yuliy Osipov
Shereen Silver & Eric Pazner
Phyllis & Robert Pilcowitz
Devorah & Yisrael Pinson
Ina & Murray Pitt
Emily & Jeffrey Pitt
Plunkett Cooney
PNC Private Bank
Lori & Maurice Pogoda
Karen & David Propis
Steve Riga
Eunice Ring
Rosalie Rosen
Lucinda & Sanford Rosen
Brenda & Howard Rosenberg
Susan & Richard Roth
Karen Meyers & Morris Rottman
Leora & Joshua Rubin
Barbara Zack & Norman Rubin
Peggy & Mark Saffer
Rose & Steven Sallen
Dorothy & Hershel Sandberg
Susie & Marc Schechter
Bluma Schechter
Eli A. Scherr
The Schostak Family
Sandy Schreier 

