You’ve heard the saying, “All good things must come to an end.” In this case, that includes the incredibly successful youth show careers of 19 Year-Old Lindsey McMullen and Katie Jo Jones who are competing at their last Youth World. Additionally, it is more than likely the last show together with their horses, Huntin For Money and Mostly Chocolate.
Jones and McMullen are selling their horses and concentrating on college and new chapters in their life. These two girls started showing against each other in 11 and under classes and they both have developed into outstanding all-around competitors. On Tuesday afternoon, Lindsey was crowned World Champion and Katie Jo was Reserve World Champion in Horsemanship, and they ended on a good note in their stellar youth careers.
Tuesday was a big day. Both young ladies showed in Western Riding, Showmanship, and Horsemanship finals on Tuesday as well as the Equitation Preliminaries. On Wednesday, Jones rode to a top-10 finish in the Trail finals to bring an end to a successful show. McMullen was sixth in the Western Pleasure finals on Thursday. Both girls have been busy with little time to celebrate, or really enjoy their final Youth World.
“I think having so many finals in one day is really hard,” both McMullen and Jones each told GoHorseShow. “I think they need to spread the finals out a bit more. By the time we got to our Equitation Prelims both our horses were exhausted.”
Even with these challenges, both girls rode brilliantly under pressure. Lindsey’s mom said she thought that having so many classes in one day was a blessing in disguise. “It kept Lindsey so busy that she concentrated on the task at hand and she didn’t have time for the nerves to get to her,” Carla McMullen said.
Lindsey McMullen and Huntin For Money (Honey) fulfilled their goal of winning a World Championship in the Horsemanship. She received four firsts and a second in a sublime pattern featuring extended trots, fast lopes, multiple turns, lead changes, break from the lope to a walk and a back.
“That is the best she has ever been for me,” Lindsey said. “It is like she knows that this is my last World Show and that she had to be 100 percent. I was so excited about the pattern; it fit her perfectly.”
Earlier Tuesday, McMullen also was rewarded a Reserve World Championship in the Showmanship and was a finalist in the Western riding after breaking over the lope log.
When asked how she got over the Western Riding disappointment, Lindsey said that, “I was mad at myself for about a half an hour and then I had to get past it and get ready for the horsemanship,” McMullen remembers. “I know this is a big show but mistakes happen at all the shows. You do well in one event and then you make a mistake in the next—that is one thing that my trainer Brad Jewett has stressed so much. As soon as an event is over, I have to move on–forget about it and zone into the next event.”
Throughout the year, Lindsey wore an old belt buckle that last year’s Horsemanship World Champion and good friend, Carey Nowacek, loaned her for good luck. It definitely paid off. “I think that now that we should frame the buckle and give it to Brad as a gift,” Lindsey says and laughs.
McMullen says that she was very happy with her Showmanship and Horsemanship rides and she knows that Honey has been incredible the entire week. “This is kind of a bittersweet moment for me. We are selling Honey but I don’t like to think about it; I’m so sad about it. I’m going to miss this so much, but I’m still going to be around with our other horses, but I’m excited for school though.”
Lindsey will be attending Oklahoma State University along on an equestrian scholarship, and she will be taking her old all-around horse, Hot Jazz Dot Com (Ralph) to the University with her since her parents donated him to the equestrian team.
Lindsey’s mom, Carla, also talks about how this moment is a mixture of emotions. “I’m so happy that she was able to fulfill her dream of winning a World Championship in the Horsemanship, but we are also sad that we will be selling Honey, and I will probably be crying all the way home from dropping Lindsey off at college.”
Katie Jo Jones is also going through some of the same emotions as McMullen. Jones also had an extremely busy show with three finals on Tuesday, the Equitation Preliminaries and the Trail Finals on Wednesday morning. Katie and Mostly Chocolate (Chucky) won Reserve World Champion in the Horsemanship, 5th in the Showmanship, 8th in the Trail, and were 13th in the Western Riding.
“I was most proud of my Horsemanship because I thought we had a nice ride,” Jones said. “My trainer Blake Weis didn’t see my pattern and no one from the stands came down so I wasn’t exactly sure if it looked as good as it felt.”
Jones, adds, “I was also very excited to make the Showmanship finals. It is only the second time I have made the finals, and it was quite an accomplishment considering it used to be one of my weakest events.”
Katie Jo said that Chucky has a really quirky personality and will spook at golf carts and “hates” tractors. “Last year when I was Reserve World Champion in the Trail–they handed me my trophy and he took off to the warm up pen. This year, I made sure that they handed me my trophy outside the arena. I guess he doesn’t like shiny things either.”
A sophomore in college, Jones is attending Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and says that her horse is for sale and this will probably be her last show with him.
“He tried really hard, but it did get frustrating trying to do so many finals close together. It never felt like I had enough time to prepare. Chucky seemed a little confused going from showmanship to western riding and then to horsemanship, but he was a trooper,” she said. “I think back to when I first started and it is amazing to see how much I have improved over the years, but it is a little sad now that it is over.”
Jones would like to thank her trainers Blake and Kendra Weis, Steve Archer, her parents, and the Lord for allowing her to have some amazing horses to show over the years.
GoHorseShow also wish both girls luck in the next chapter in their lives and look forward to hopefully seeing them in the show ring as amateurs!
Click here to view an extensive slideshow from Lindsey and Katie Jo’s Tuesday events.
All photos © GoHorseShow.com
