GoHorseShow is excited to have Taylor Searles reporting for us from the AQHYA World Show. Searles is a Multiple Congress and AQHYA World Champion. Her parents are trainers, Jim and Deanna Searles, from Scottsdale, Arizona. Her brother, Trent, may also be seen around the shows and is very supportive. Taylor is competing at this year’s AQHYA World Championship Show with her three horses: Flashy Attraction, Al Be Sweet On You, and She Says Aloha. Check out her daily reports from the show!
After the cattle were moved and the pen was cleared the hunter under saddle finals began. Even though there were no cattle in sight, my mare was on the lookout for the animal that left behind the funny stench, which left for a perfect expression on her face. Once Katerina Mendel was crowned the hunter under saddle champion, the pleasure horses began their nice class. Both the hunter under saddle and pleasure finals were extremely tough. Congratulations to Hillary Roberts on her second world championship of the show. The equitation finals then began. The pattern used all of the arena and allowed exhibitors to exhibit their horse very well. The rail work was tough with having to go the first direction iron-less. I honestly was relieved when we got to pick up our irons again. Congratulations to Gentry Cherry on a flawless ride and another world championship.
Trail finals were very tough this morning. Hillary Roberts of Edmond, Oklahoma was crowned the world champion with a score of 231.5. The second and third place exhibitors tied with a score of 226.5 where Taylor Brown came out ahead and won the tie breaker with her veteran teammate and 2012 Youth Trail World Champion partner, Just Hit Town. Fourth place was only a half point behind second and third.
This morning was full of finals! A big congratulations to Billie Henard, Lindsey Whitehead, Kristin Hull, Madison Thiel, Ross Ramsey, Treg Etbauer, Brock Bawel, and Klay McDowall on being newly crowned champions.It was very exciting to watch the over fence classes today. The jumping had four horses in the jump off and kept the crowd on their toes. The speed events were fast as always with the usual yelling of the crowd. The showmanship and horsemanship finals were my favorite to watch because of all the talented exhibitors who have worked so hard to be here.
Today was a long day full of showmanship and pleasure prelims in the Jim Norick arena. The showmanship had 190 entries and took almost eight hours to complete. After showmanship, there was an extremely tough pleasure class filled with the best horses in the world.
In the Performance Arena, the judging competition was held. A big thank you to everyone who donated their horses to be used. An ice cream float party took place this afternoon during the boot and jean fashion show. Youth modeled the jeans and boots that they designed for their state/country. It was great to see some of the guys get up there and ‘strut’, not to mention the ice cream was very yummy.
Day three was the first day that competition took place in the Jim Norick arena. Congratulations to RJ Jacobs, Kaylee Hamm, and Shyanne Smith on their halter championships.After halter was complete the prelims for the speed events were held. There is nothing quite like the rush of watching an American Quarter Horse galloping at full speed down the ‘Gateway of Champions’ to run their pattern and the cheers of the crowd as they turn for home.
The second day of the AQHYA World Show was a long one. Congratulations to Justin Ware, Monica Hamm, and Deanna Green on their world championships.
Friday, August 1–First Day of Show
The first three of 35 world championships were crowned today. Congratulations to Jack Meadows, Reece William Hooker, and Ireland Cofrancesco on their wins in the halter this morning.
The lesson of today was that sometimes even the best laid plans don’t work out. The Jim Norick arena was still not safe for exhibitors and their horses to compete. Today’s events were moved to the Performance Arena and Saturday’s events will also be held in there and Arena 8. Once again the exhibitors are extremely appreciative of AQHA for making it work with the tough circumstances.
Thursday, July 31st–Day before the show starts
Today is the day before the official start of the show and what an exciting day it was! For once we weren’t sweaty from the hot and humid weather, but wet because of the rain. With all this cool and stormy weather, the coliseum suffered damage from a large amount of water that seeped into the roof. The Oklahoma State Fairgrounds crew worked all day and will through the night to try and fix the problem.
At 4:30 this afternoon, Mr. Pete Kyle had a meeting with all the exhibitors who are showing in the Performance Halter classes and Western Riding tomorrow to address the situation. The new schedule for Friday morning is performance halter warm up from 5:00-7:00 and then at 8:00 the show will start. After the performance halter champions are crowned, they will do a two hour western riding warm up and then go right into the prelims. All of the exhibitors are very appreciative of AQHA for accommodating the needs of everyone and to Mr. Pete Kyle because he listened to everyone’s opinion on the newly modified schedule.
