When Stacy Fitzgerald started riding her five-year-old Arabian Stallion, Empressive, in horse shows last winter, she didn’t expect to win. Her horse’s trainer in Connecticut told Fitzgerald not to expect anything more than the thrill of being in an equestrian event.

Somehow, somewhere, Fitzgerald and her horse, formally called SZ Empressive started working together like they had been a team for years and the young horse lived up to its name.

Fitzgerald, 29, of Bangor took the stallion to Class A shows beyond Maine, something she had never done in 20 years of riding. They showed in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Toronto, New York. After just four shows Fitzgerald and Empressive have qualified for the U.S. Arabian and Half Arabian Championships in Kentucky this Thursday.

“It’s kind of amazing,” said Fitzgerald, a hairdresser at Hair Sensation in Bangor. “My trainer didn’t think we’d go. Then when she saw the two of us work together at a show, she said if you want to go to nationals, you can. We were kind of shocked.”

To qualify for nationals, Fitzgerald first had to take a first or second in a Class A show to advance to the regionals. Then she had to place in the top five at the regionals in Syracuse, N.Y.

Given the fact Empressive is not yet fully trained, neither Fitzgerald or her mother, Debbie Nadeau, thought they would make the national meet, the one show they both have wanted to go to for 20 years.

“It’s been kind of a dream for a while,” Nadeau said.

Fitzgerald isn’t sure what her and Empressive’s chances are – but she admits the onus to do well is all on her.

“I have to keep my cool. He’s got it,” Fitzgerald said of her horse. “My mother said I haven’t been to anything close to [nationals]. It’s got the best horses across the country.”

Fitzgerald will ride in the amateur class in the 18-39 age division. If she finishes in the top 10 out of 20 horses, she makes the second round. If she finishes as well a second time, she makes Friday’s final.

Despite being a stallion, and, therefore, having the potential to be less well-behaved than geldings, Empressive loves to perform and, Fitzgerald said, is well-tempered at shows. At the same time, Fitzgerald said attaining higher glory could be a slow process – even with a remarkable horse.

“In this book I get for horse shows, in this month’s national issue it says the woman who won it last year had been to the nationals five times before,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s what makes me nervous. But I think we’ll do pretty well. Having my parents behind me helps. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have their support.”