Short Story Contest
Submit Your Horse Themed Story for A Chance To Win!
2024 entries are officially open!
This year’s theme is “The Worth of Wildness”
Do you want to raise your voice to help horses while being creative at the same time? Elementary students (ages 5-10), Middle grade students (ages 10-14) and High School students (ages 14-18) are invited to submit a short story for WBF’s third annual Short Story competition!
Winning stories, along with the top two finalists, will be read aloud by equine loving celebrities on WBF social media, with one Grand Prize Winner and Four Finalists in each age category all receiving amazing prizes!
PREVIOUS Short Story WinnerS
High School
"Wild As the Stars" by Allison A.
Age 17, Grade 12
Newnan, Georgia
Read by Mackenzie Foy
Middle School
"A Wild Ghost" by Ilané K.
Age 14, Grade 8
Cape Town, South Africa
Read by Beth Behrs
1st ANNUAL Short Story Finalists 2nd ANNUAL FINALISTS COMING SOON
High School
Our 2024 Theme Will Be
THE WORTH OF WILDNESS
Celebrities Reading 2022 Stories Include
Mackenzie Foy (Black Beauty, Twilight)
Iain Glen (Black Beauty, Game of Thrones)
Alisha Newton (Heartland)
Graham Wardle (Heartland)
Beth Behrs (2 Broke Girls, The Neighborhood)
Michael Gladis (Mad Men, The Neighborhood)
Claire Forlani (Black Beauty)
Chiara Aurelia (Cruel Summer)
Jesse Kove (Cobra Kai)
2024 Prizes
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS
One elementary, one middle grade, and one high school “Grand Prize Winner” will receive:
- Grand Prize Winning Story read aloud by equine-loving celebrity and posted to WBF social media
- Grand Prize Winning Story published on the WBF website
- A hand-made hat and horse themed creation made just for the Wild Beauty Foundation from Bella Soul.
- Equine themed jewelry from Atelier CG
- A LaLa Horse themed gift box
- A signed Phantom Stallion book by Terri Farley
- A wild horse print by Kimerlee Curyl
- High School Winner: Signed Blue Zeus: Legend of the Red Desert book by Carol Walker
- Middle Grade & Elementary Winners: 8×10 matted print by Carol Walker
- A wild horse print by Sandy Sharkey Photography
- A soon-to-be-released book about wolves by Rene Hersey
- A WBF thank you card
- A signed Black Beauty poster
RUNNER UP & HONORABLE MENTION
Two elementary, two middle grade, and two high school “Runner Up” and “Honorable Mention” will receive:
- Stories read aloud by a celebrity and posted to WBF social media
- Story published on the WBF website
- Equine themed gift from Atelier CG
- A WBF thank you card
- A signed Black Beauty poster
TWO FINALISTS
Two elementary, two middle grade, and two high school “Finalist”will receive:
- A WBF thank you card
- Equine themed gift from Atelier CG
- A signed Black Beauty poster
Sponsors
2024 Judges
Ashley Avis
Writer & Director of Disney’s Black Beauty and critically acclaimed documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West. Founder & President of WBF.
Rick Rekedal
Former Chief Creative, Global Franchise, Dreamworks Animation (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, How to Train Your Dragon)
Terri Farley
Best-selling author of Seven Tears into the Sea, The Phantom Stallion series for young readers about the contemporary and historic West and many nonfiction magazine articles.
Jamie Jennings
Certified Monty Roberts Instructor and host of the podcast Horses in the Morning.
SCOTT BECKSTEAD
Leading expert in the United States on wild horses, and animal right attorney.
ELIZABETH MCCALL
Author, journalist, and publicist. The Los Angeles Times, Horse Illustrated, Cowboys & Indians, and more.
Richard Avis
Producer, Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West. Film producer and WBF member.
ALLISON ALLGOOD
Grand Prize Winner, High School WBF Short Story Competition 2021.
Advocacy Volunteer, The Wild Beauty Foundation
Enter The Competition Now!
YOUR SHORT STORY
This year’s theme is “The Worth of Wildness.” Make sure to do your research on wild horses to learn about them to give your story authenticity!
The creative possibilities are endless. Your story could be in first person like Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, or it could be third person. You could write about encountering a wild horse out on the range yourself, or focus on wild horse families.
Once your story is complete, we encourage you to post about it on social media. Tag WBF and use our hashtags for a chance to get featured on our channels! The more you post, the more we can raise awareness for wild horses who need help today.
Facebook: @ The Wild Beauty Foundation
Instagram: @wildbeautyspirit
Twitter: @WildBeautyHerd
#istandwithwildhorses #wildhorseteamwork #wildbeautyspirit
#wbfshortstories
Categories
Elementary Grade Entries
Ages 5-10
500 words maximum
Middle Grade Entries
Ages 11-13
1000 words maximum
High School Entries
Ages 14-17
2000 words maximum
Dates
Entries Open: March 1st, 2024
Submissions Close: September 30th, 2024
Winners Announced: October / November 2024
Rules
- Stories should generally follow the WBF themes and mission, which about strength, compassion, authenticity, and elegance.
- No profanity allowed whatsoever. The use of bad words, any explicit or hateful language will automatically disqualify stories.
- Story must be the original work of the child or teen.
- Story must be fact or fiction, prose or poetry.
- Non-English text must be translated to English text to qualify, and must adhere to the word count.
- Title of story is not included in the official word count.
- Elementary age entries include students ages 5-10, or through 5th grade upon time of submission.
- Middle grade entries include students ages 10-14, or through 8th grade upon time of submission.
- High school entries include students from 9th — 12th grade upon time of submission.
- If student is in between elementary and middle school or middle and high school, they may choose to submit to either category, to which they feel is most appropriate.
- All stories without exception must be submitted through the entry from, uploads, PDFs, and files are not permitted.
- Winning stories will be selected by judges that include WBF team and advisory board members, and chosen for creative merit, attention to the subject, and overall excellence in writing.
- Contestants must provide the required information, and a parent or legal guardian must provide participation consent for all entrants under 13 years old.
- Finalists and winners, or the parent or legal guardian of finalists and winners for children under 13 years of age, agree to provide consent for WBF to use the first name and first initial of last name when announcing or publishing stories to social media.
- All winners and finalists may be required to submit an additional consent form and will be alerted by WBF directly if needed.
- Entrants and parents of entrants under 13 years old must agree to the privacy policy and terms & conditions.
Enter Your Short Story Here!
Submissions have closed.
