Fall is in the air around many parts of the country, and with cooler temperatures come tougher competition. Many in the industry are gearing up to attend the sport’s biggest and most prestigious shows. First on the list for many are the Level 1 (formerly novice) Championships. Two shows will be held the last week in September; the SmartPak West Level 1 show will take place in Las Vegas at the South Point Hotel and Casino. For East Coast competitors, the Nutrena sponsored event will move to a new location at the sprawling Lexington Horse Park in Lexington, Virginia.
The Level 1 shows cater to those either at the beginning of their show career or new to their respective disciplines. GoHorseshow spoke with several of the show’s veterans about what made their past experiences at that show a success and how it prepared them for future competition.
Youth competitor Trae Buckwalter of Westminster, Maryland isn’t new to the show ring. He’s grown up the industry with a good deal of family guidance. Buckwalter shares, “My grandfather Scott Buckwalter, a past AQHA judge, is a big part of my interest in riding and showing. He was the one who started my career in lead line and prepared me for walk jog.” Buckwalter has come a long way from the walk-jog days. Today he shares his mount, Standing Bar Time—a fifteen-year-old all-around gelding—with his sister, Abi Buckwalter.
Last year Buckwalter competed in, and won, Youth Showmanship at the East Championships under the guidance of his longtime trainer, Amy Whitmore. He says growing up with Whitmore has shaped him into the showman he is today. “Amy is a big part of preparing me to be the best I can be. She’s like my second mother,” Trae reveals.
That connection likely contributed to the team’s success. “I competed in showmanship because that was the only class we were eligible–just showing in one class definitely took away some stress. I knew that I could focus on this one class and make my pattern perfect,” Buckwalter says.
Though Buckwalter knew he’d laid down a strong pattern, the moments leading up to his win were filled with nerves. He says, “After we did our final pattern, I was a little nervous because all the other competitors had great patterns as well. When the announcer got to the top three, I had no clue how I placed, but the moment my name was called as AQHA East Novice Champion made me so appreciative of how far we’ve come and all the support we have.”
Erin McNab of Salem, Oregon competed in youth all-around events at the 2014 West Championships under the guidance of Sarah Raschein. Taking her trainer’s advice, McNab decided to treat the show as a gauge of where she and her horse, Unchipped (Uno), stood as a team. McNab shares, “I’d been making improvements with Uno and Sarah thought we had the potential to have a successful show. She explained that the facility was amazing, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to see how my horse and I could do together at a bigger show.”
As a college student, McNab, says having a free summer with frequent opportunities for practice influenced her success. Together she and Unchipped placed in the top ten in Level 1 Youth Hunter Under Saddle, Horsemanship, Showmanship and Performance Halter Geldings.
She says, “I spent a lot of days working patterns and parts of patterns, or simply going back to the basics and working on squares and circles with my horse.” McNab adds that Raschein believes exposing horses to new surroundings helps her teams become show ring ready. “We often took the horses to local fairgrounds during open riding times so we could get out and practice horsemanship and western riding in a different arena,” McNab states.
Preparation had a slightly different look for Lauren Lloyd (pictured right) of Eli Whitney, North Carolina. The youth competitor keeps each of her horses—all-around gelding Rising Shadow and ranch horse, CSF Lightening Josey—at home throughout the year. According to Lloyd, “With Josey I just did my normal riding at home which includes; checking and working the cows, and trail riding.” The strategy certainly paid off as the pair earned the top spot in Youth Ranch Riding at the 2014 East Championships (pictured below).
Lloyd goes on to say that she took a more traditional training route with Rising Shadow, aka Romeo. “I think going to several shows before the East Championship Show helped me stay in the show mindset, and it kept encouraging me to improve my riding so I could help my horse improve.” Improve they did, as the pair placed in the top-ten in Youth Horsemanship, Youth Hunter Under Saddle and Performance Halter Geldings.”
For Lloyd (pictured left) showing at the Level 1 Championship was a positive experience not just because of their placings, but also because the show acted as preparation for tough competition to come. “I think it is a positive choice for AQHA to offer the Level 1 shows because it gives people who might not be at the highest level of showing a chance to compete at a championship show.”
She adds exhibitors shouldn’t let the Level 1 status fool them. Competition is still intense. “It was very competitive, just like other big AQHA shows.” Not a year later, Lloyd and Rising Shadow went on to place sixth at the 2015 AQHYA World Show in Showmanship. She believes the show aided in her eventual success. “The Level 1 show helped prepare me for what the demands and pressure of the AQHYA World Show were going to be like.”
Another competitor that found success in the showmanship arena is Alex Barnes of Westland, Michigan. She and her horse, Mist My Invitation, took home the top award in Level 1 Amateur Showmanship at last year’s East Championship. Barnes showed the seven-year-old mare under the guidance of Nicole Brown Veldhoff.
To prepare the pair took their practice sessions to a higher level. Barnes says, “We worked every day and I really concentrated on breaking the patterns down with Nicole. We took the same approach as we did for every show, but went further into detail about each maneuver.”
Barnes (pictured right) and Lloyd would agree that AQHA’s addition of Level 1 Championship Shows has given competitors the chance to show in a high-pressure environment, but with the advantage of a level playing field. “Every person was competitive, everyone worked hard and wanted to succeed,” Barnes says.
Barnes adds, “I think that this is such a positive show because it gives more people a chance to attend a big show. Showing there pushed me and developed my horse and I as a team. Plus, I think it has prepared me to attend the AQHA World show in the future.” It certainly readied the pair to attend the All American Quarter Horse Congress a few weeks later (Pictured above right). Alex and Mist My Invitation continued their winning ways by taking home top honors in Novice Amateur Showmanship at the world’s biggest show.
As everyone who shows knows, success doesn’t always equate with placings. Progress and increased partnership are some of the biggest wins any equestrian can earn. Albany, Oregon’s Lena Sailor is new to the world of AQHA competition. She and her equine partner, Red Hot Options, began their career together a little over two years ago.
For Sailor attending the West Championships was all about having a positive experience and increasing their confidence as a team. “Last year was our first full year of showing at AQHA shows. We’d had a great year up in the Northwest, and it was the perfect way to cap off the show season and build confidence going into 2015,” Sailor says. As far as practice, Sailor says routine was the name of the game, and that having the patterns ahead of time was incredibly helpful.
The pair made the finals in most of their classes, including Level 1 Amateur Trail, Horsemanship and Western Pleasure. The experience proved transformative for the burgeoning team. Sailor (pictured left) shares, “I had only shown in trail at two shows prior, so it was a pretty amazing for us to have the ride we did. Making it to the finals was just so awesome. Then, again, in the first cut of the western pleasure, he was right there with me the whole ride. Growing up, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to ride a horse like him, or to show in a venue like South Point.”
Growing as a team, building confidence, increasing connection and having the opportunity to show in a fun, competitive environment is what makes our industry so special. Of course coming home from a show with awards, points and placings are what we all strive toward. But moments like Sailor experienced are the primary reason we do what we do. Sailor says, “As we stood in the middle of the arena during my last class thinking back over the experience of that week, it literally brought tears to my eyes.”
Photos © KC Montgomery and Ali Grusha
