The MAQHA Corporate Challenge was recently held July 13-16 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, MN. There were six complete shows and the judges included Daren Wright, Lori Gordon, Sandy Jirkovsky, Gigi Bailey, Suzy Jeane and Jeff Mellott. This year’s show had 1,500 more entries than last year and nearly 500 stalls sold. They also had an impressive 191 total showmanship runs.
“This was our first time to attend The Corporate Challenge,” Carey Nowacek told us.”It was far from home for us but definitely worth the trip. It was a great facility, awesome people and numbers were big. The Minnesota Quarter Horse Association did a fantastic job adjusting the schedule in a pinch to accommodate such large classes and late nights. It was fun and refreshing to see the entire stands packed full and excited to watch the bridleless trail challenge. We are definitely marking it on our calendar for next year.”
Some of the more notable winners included Blake Weis and Snap Krackle Pop who won the $1,000 added Bridleless Trail; Moxie Machine, owned by Andrea Kengis Foss and shown by Rhonda Spratto won the NSBA 3 and 4 year old Hunter Under Saddle; the Highest Scoring Ranch Horse was Invest In A Hot Star, owned by Greg and Julie Olson, shown by Larry Spratto; the champion in the NSBA Open Western Pleasure was, My Chips Are Hot, ridden by Erin Lieurance and owned by Richard and Debra Donnelly; the highest scoring reining horse was Tejons Shine “Kit” and Kathy Burma; High Point Trail Horse was Lil Boss Man and Kacy Philpot; and Naturally Smokin won the English High Point Horse who is owned by Angela Gruber and was shown by Abbie Powers.
Lastly, “The Humble Award” was won by Carson Griggs with 23 votes from his peers. Carson is seen at many shows working with Tim Kimura at the trail arena. Great job Carson!
CLICK HERE to view the candids sponsored by The Rock and kindly taken by Carey Nowacek, MAQHA, and others.
