2024 Girl of the Year Is an Equestrian

DeAnn Long Sloan, Comments Off on 2024 Girl of the Year Is an Equestrian
American Girl has announced their 2024 Girl of the Year and we’re thrilled to see she’s a burgeoning equestrian.

Okay, folks. It’s time to get excited. American Girl has announced their 2024 Girl of the Year and she is, wait for it… AN EQUESTRIAN. That’s right, next year’s girl is horse-crazy just like we are.


Meet Lila Monetti, a gymnast whose relationship with horses helps her gain confidence. The American Girl website describes her as follows:

As the new girl on her gymnastics squad, Lila wonders if she’s good enough to make the Xcel Gold Team. When she gets the chance to go to horse camp, she finds creative ways to train for gymnastics and forms an unexpected friendship that boosts her confidence.

(Honestly, it’s like they copied and pasted from my own daughter’s resumé). As a multifaceted athlete, it’s clear that Lila can do just about anything.

Also, be ready to get nostalgic. Why? Because it appears Lila discovered her love for horses at horse camp. (How many of us can relate?) Camp Honeycrisp Hill is where Lila meets Hollyhock, a golden Palomino that is “nervous in her new environment and hasn’t been accepted yet by the other horses.”

Photo from the American Girl website.

Of course, Lila manages to bond with the nervous horse by spending extra time grooming her, and hoping to be the first camper to ride her. (Man, this has all the makings of horse girl movie. If only the farm were in trouble … )

And, if there were any doubt that Lila truly is horse girl, she and Mighty Mae, Honeycrisp Hill’s corgi, team up to train Hollyhock after she gets spooked by another dog.

Photo from the American Girl website.

We have to give American Girl props for getting the horse girl starter kit exactly right:

✅ Girl with some sort of internal struggle

✅ Desire to prove herself

✅ Horse camp

✅ Nervous horse with which only she can bond

✅ Corgi (or other herding breed often seen at horse shows)

I won’t lie, I probably will have to get my hands on Lila’s book and give a full review.