We are very pleased that Susie Johns of Paradise Valley, Arizona will be reporting for GoHorseShow.com during the AQHA Select World Championship show. Susie is no stranger to Amarillo, Texas and the Select World. In 2009, with the help of her trainers Jim and Deanna Searles, she and Majestic Scotch won the Western Riding and were reserve
in Western Pleasure on their way to winning the Select World All-Around
Title. This year, Susie will be showing Heza Radical Zip in trail, horsemanship and western riding, I Got A Good Name in trail and A Fancy Fearless in 3-Year-Old Mares.
THE LAST DAY
Saturday at the 2011 Select World saw the final 3 halter classes, over fence finals, and pleasure driving to close out the show. All that was now left was the crowning of the Farnam Select All-Around Amateur. Lots of point tabulation was needed as a few exhibitors had a stellar day today, so it ended up being a tight race right down to the very last class of the day!
Anne Wilson was patiently waiting as she was on top of the standings since her last class on Thursday. Anne, already had left Amarillo to attend another show, but she was still on the top of the leader board, after all the points were tabulated! Congratulations Anne Wilson and her horse Visible Investment! A job well done after Dudley being laid up for many weeks prior the show! Anne and Dudley were named World Champion in Showmanship, 3rd in Horsemanship, 4th in Hunt Seat Equitation and 8th in Performance Halter Geldings gathering enough points to take home all the prizes! (as a previous winner myself) I can say that is a very special honor that Anne will never forget! Congratulations Anne, Dudley, and Team Briggs for your accomplishments!
Reserve All-Around went to Dr. Scott Myers showing and Capture The Flag with a World Championship in Hunter Hack, Reserve Champion in Equitation Over Fences and 5th Place in Working Hunter. Scott has been no stranger at winning the Reserve All-Around, as he has earned it for 3 years in a row! Congratulations Scott!
3rd place in the All-Around was Lori Bucholtz showing Larks Happy Days! Congratulations Lori!
I pray that each and everyone of you have a safe trip back home and I look forward in seeing everyone again next year and hopefully before then!
As the 2011 Adequan Select World comes to a close, I want to thank AQHA and ALL the sponsors for providing the show for those of us over 50! We look forward to 2012 the 10th anniversary of the Select World!
And thank you GoHorseShow.com for asking me to report the “goings on” here in Amarillo!
– Susie
DAY 7
I was up early today and I must admit at 6:00 am there was a chill to the air, which I thought I would never be saying this week here in Amarillo! Halter classes were in full swing today as well as the finals of the roping events as well. Congratulations to everyone who placed or was crowned World or Reserve Champions today.
Saturday will be the final day of the 2011 Adequan Select World Show! A few more Halter classes, over fence classes and rounding up the show with Pleasure Driving. Plus the naming the 2011 Select All Around winner! Stay tuned!
DAY 6
Let me first apologize that I got behind on Wednesday, so I’m going get caught up by doing Wednesday and Thursday all together! Sorry everyone. Wednesday morning saw the Trail finals practice session start at 6:00 am followed by the Trail Finals class at 8:00. Course designer Tim Kimura set up yet another challenging course for this years finalists. With 78 original entries it was down to the top 15.
Congratulations are in order to the Intermediate Trail trophy winners.
3rd place Jean Buchmann riding Hez Driftin On
2nd place Kay Moody and Double T Blue Chip
1st place honors went to Teresa Kohman riding Kat Man Shine
Bronze trophy winner in the Trail went to Charlene Lane showing Suddenly A Good Bar
Reserve World Champion went to Teresa Kohman riding Kat Man Shine
World Champion was Steve Gunn riding Motion By Pro
Congratulations to everyone who placed in the Trail!
Trail was followed by the Barrel Racing finals and then followed by the Horsemanship finals. The Horsemanship finals and yet another pattern leaving each finalist to map their own course with a pattern that only had a start and finish cone! A very tough group of finalists!
The Intermediate Horsemanship results were.
3rd place Kay Moody showing Double T Blue Chip
2nd place Karen Zarda on Givin Up The Goods
1st place honors went to Maggie Bellville riding Bud Light Please
The Bronze trophy went to Anne Wilson showing Visible Investment
Reserve World Champion went to Christine Hocutt-Sentency showing Believe He’s Blazing
World Champion was Susan Johns aboard Heza Radical Zip (now you know why I’m late reporting! Out celebrating! LOL!)
Immediately following the Horsemanship Finals were the Western Riding Finals, where the 15 finalists performed AQHA pattern 3. It was a tough finals, and Congratulations to all.
Intermediate Western Riding placings
3rd place went to Linda O’Brien showing Corporate Credit
2nd place was Karen Zarda aboard Givin Up The Goods
1st place was Renee Ryssel showing Last Piece Of Pie
3rd place went to Diana Davidson showing Mr After Shock
Reserve World Champion Harley D Zip with Kerry Papendick aboard.
World Champion honors went to Mary Lou Searles riding Flashy Attraction
Congratulations to all!
The Pole Bending finals followed the Western Riding Finals, and then the Hunter Under Saddle finals were next. Big trotters and great lopers were making their way around the arena!
Intermediate results were
3rd place Katherine Haynes riding A Bold Artifact
2nd place Lori Bucholtz aboard Too Rainy To Sleep
1st place honors went to Marilyn Alkire showing St. Blues Traveler
Taking the bronze was Rita Crundwell riding Naturally Graceful
Reserve World Champion was Lyles al Lie with Kirsten Farris aboard
World Champion was Kerry Papendick riding Must Be A Detail. (This was back to back World Championships for Kerry and Stewie!)
Following the Hunter Under Saddle Finals were the Hunt Seat Equitation Finals!
Once again 15 top competitors vied for the World Champion title.
Intermediate placings
3rd place was Shannon Cox showing In Captivity
2nd place was Kelley Simonsen showing Ms Ashwood Flash
1st place Pamela Meltzer riding Jose Lucky Pat
The bronze trophy went to Farley Barbera riding Hot Jazzin Zippo
Reserve World Champion Gretchen Kurzweg aboard Hot Chics Like Me
World Champion Skys Blue Eyes with Laurel Champlin in the saddle.
Wow! An hour later and I’m just now done reporting Wednesday’s results! Gotta do Thur results tomorrow! I can’t stay awake! I think the late nights and early mornings have hit me! And I have a 5:00 am wake up call (Fri am) to go practice in the show arena before the 8:00 start time. Lol. So I’m still behind! Sorry! On a side note. Someone got the thermostat turned down a few degrees here in Amarillo today!! Yahoo! Night
DAY 5
Tuesday in Amarillo was an
early start! We had an 6:00 am trail walk-through for the Prelims in the
trail! 78 contestants later, the judges narrowed it to 15 finalists!
With the high score of 230 and a score of 220 being the magic number for
those to get to play in the finals. Congratulations to all who made the Trail
finals! Add the barrel racing Prelims in between the Western Pleasure
Finals. Congratulations are in order to the 16 finalists in the Western Pleasure.
Then we had the Showmanship Finals!
19 exhibitors had to run, stop, turn their way! All I can say, is
that “Hats Off to ALL of You”! It was an awesome class and
Congratulations to All are in order. A special congratulations to Anne Wilson
as this is back to back World Championships in Showmanship!
Then from 7:00-9:00 the well attended
reception held at AQHA was a fun social gathering! It’s always fun to get
to step into a bit of AQHA history! Thank AQHA for hosting such a fun
event! Off to bed! Wed will be a busy filled day with finals in
Trail, Horsemanship, Western Riding, Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat
Equitation! Oh and had a speed event or two in there too!
DAY 4
Monday saw a little cooler temps here in Amarillo. While trail warm ups and exhibitors schooling showmanship was going on outside, inside the Coliseum they crowned the first Adequan Select World 2011 winners in the Cutting and Working Cow Horse. Congratulations to all who placed in these two events.
The preliminaries in Showmanship had 58 very tough exhibitors. Let me say to all of the Showmanship exhibitors, “I admire all of your stamina in performing the pattern. I don’t think I could run as long as you all did!” Everyone did such a fabulous job that the judge’s decisions were difficult and there are 19 coming back in the finals! Congratulations to EVERYONE who made it back in the finals.
After the Showmanship Prelims, we saw 59 Reining exhibitors sliding and spinning their way, all trying to get into the finals. After the Reining prelims we had 67 exhibitors in the Horsemanship Prelims. With only a start and ending cone in the arena, it was left up to each rider to perform the pattern as they believed it should be executed. Twenty exhibitors were brought back for rail work and then the judges narrowed their choices to 15 for the finals which will be Wednesday morning. Congratulations to the 15 finalists!
Monday was another late night, no time for socializing as Trail Prelims start at 7:00 Tuesday morning. Hopefully Tuesday night we can catch up chatting with friends at the AQHA Foundation Reception held at the AQHA Museum from 7:00-9:00! Hope to see everyone there!
– Susie
DAY 3
Sunday in Amarillo saw was an early morning with the Prelims of Cutting starting at 6:30 am. We were blessed with overcast skies and a light breeze, making preparations a bit easier. Then followed by 26 Working Cow Horse exhibitors. Hunt Seat Equitation started mid-afternoon with 37 exhibitors then followed by Hunter Under Saddle with 30 riders. Then followed by Western Pleasure with 40 exhibitors. Both the Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure had two splits followed with 20 horse in the semi-finals. Then to finish out the very late night was the Western Riding prelims with 52 exhibitors.
If enduring the “past bedtime” hours wasn’t enough, mother nature added a major thunderstorm to the equation! Lightening struck so close to the fairgrounds that the electricity was knocked out in one of the barns. This definitely added a new element in preparing to show. Apparently, “Grooming and preparing a horse in the dark” will be a good manual for one to read up on! LOL.
Great job to everyone who competed yesterday as all the classes were very tough. Congratulations to those that made the finals and get to play again!
– Susie
DAY 2
We still saw HOT HOT temps here in Amarillo as more people arrived today. The show arena was crowded as everyone wanted to get some practice time in the actual arena where we will show. It was fun seeing friends in there and the wash rack was a great place to run into familiar faces. Especially in this heat, many minutes of “catch up” time are spent while hosing off our horses. The occasional errant spray of the hose felt great and was very welcomed! We also saw many fellow contestants at the local Walmart stocking up on water and ice to help stay cool!
At 5:30 there were two great parties held at the Tri State Fairgrounds. Again this year was a “Rajun Cajun” Gumbo Jambalaya party sponsored with
Southern hospitality from our friends from multiple southern states.
Thank you thank you for the delicious red beans, rice and cobbler!
There was another special party. June Liston held a retirement party for her 22 year old stud, Cool Hand
Lark. Cool was there greeting all June’s friends wearing a wreath of red
and white flowers with a ribbon of blue woven throughout. June along
with her husband Cory, Butch Campbell, and Shannon McKillips were
pouring champagne and cutting cake for all his well wishers. June will
be showing one last time in the trail here in Amarillo. Good Luck to
June and Cool in their final competition! Enjoy the ride and enjoy the
moment!
That brings me now to a little nap before my midnight practice session! Midnight finds many of us Selects practicing in the show arena one last time before Sunday’s prelims. It’s now 2:00 Sunday morning and I’m waiting for my horse to dry after a quick hose off. I’m calling it a night.
Before I sign off I want to wish all contestants good luck that are showing later today in Cutting Working Cow Horse, Hunt Seat Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle, Western Pleasure, and Western Riding.
– Susie
DAY 1
Just in case anyone was wondering, there are 10 Dairy Queens between Pilot Point, Texas and Amarillo! On our drive I was dying to stop at just one of them, but that was just a dream! We pulled out of Highpoint where we over-nighted at 4:15 am because Jim Searles was determined to get to Amarillo before it got too hot. He thought we would be able to bed stalls and unload…before it got too hot! Well let me tell you at 10:15am when we arrived in Amarillo it was HOT HOT HOT! The “real feel” temp was 107! Give me my non-humid Arizona heat any day over this! But that’s okay, I can tell you that seeing friends was definitely the best part of the day! Everyone is excited and grateful to be here, all set up and actually riding a little today. We are all ready to eat a nice dinner and head to bed. I need all the beauty sleep I can get!
Will check in again tomorrow with a few pictures.
– Susie
