On Thursday morning in Oklahoma City, Carolyn Nielson of Las Vegas, Nevada and The Only Kiss To Envy won the Western Riding with the score of a 235 – a full five points higher than second place.
The day before, the duo won the Level 2 Western Riding which is quite an accomplishments to win both of these classes. She was also Level 2 Champion in the Horsemanship. “She’s a very hard worker and has put in the time,” said her trainer, Blake Weis, right after her win in the L3 Western Riding.
In the Level 2 Hunt Seat Equitation Finals, Check Required and Rebecca Figueroa came away with the win over 118 competitors. “My horse is known as ‘Bob the wonder pony’. It is such a great way to end my first Youth World,” Rebecca said after her last class of the show.
That’s a wrap for GoHorseShow at the AQHYA World Show. The show ends Saturday with the culmination of all the roping and timed events. Until next year, have a safe trip home or on to the NSBA World Show.
Update #5
Wednesday at the AQHYA World Show was full of excitement with the finals of the Level 3 (14-18,13&U) Western Pleasure, L2 Western Riding, and Level 3 (14-18,13&U) Hunt Seat Equitation. Several unanimous and first time winners came out on top.
First time gold winner and unanimous champion, Sydnie Ochs and No Doubting Me were World Champions in the 14-18 Western Pleasure. Sydnie got very emotional when they announced fourth place and never stopped crying through the rest of the placings. Sydnie has been working towards this moment for many years. “Dreams do come true,” says her grandmother, Sue Sancken, who was very excited about her win.
Sydnie shared, “I’m truly humbled by the support everyone has given me. This experience has been a long time dream of mine and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. ‘NoNo’ is definitely one of a kind. I look forward to our future together, adding some all-around events. Thank you to my family, grandpa, grandma and my trainers, Dawn and Brian Baker for always being there for me.”
Less than a day after winning the L2 Western Pleasure late Tuesday night, Lane Kail and A Good N Hot Machine were World Champions in the 13 & Under Western Pleasure under the guidance of Dave Archer. Lane comes from four generations of horse show royalty – Greg Whalen, Bob Kail, Ryan Kail, and Lane Kail. Those are some big shoes to fill, but the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree as there is no doubt that horses and winning are in his genes.
Next up, Caroline Nielson and The Only Kiss To Envy were Champions in the L2 Western Riding while Sydney Sargent and Lazy Lopin Guy were winners in the 13 & Under Equitation. This is Sydney’s first gold globe, her last year in the 13 & Under, and her last class at the horse show. Speaking of horse show royalty, she is the daughter of proud parents, Cheryllee Sargent and Bennie Sargent.
Continuing the horse show family heritage theme, Nya Kearns and BMQ Stop For Traffic were crowned unanimous winners in the 14 – 18 Hunt Seat Equitation. This duo has won this class before and Nya also won gold in the Horsemanship earlier this week. The daughter of Valerie and Brad Kearns, Nya’s proud grandmother is NSBA Executive Director Dianne Eppers. Success is most definitely in her genes. It is a very rare and amazing feat to win both the Hunt Seat Equitation and the Horsemanship in the same year, not to mention she did it on two different horses. No doubt about it, Nya is one impressive equestrian.
Update #4
Tuesday was a busy day at the AQHYA World Show with the finals of the L3 Trail (13&U and 14-18) and the AQHA Collegiate Horsemanship Championship where chosen collegiate riders from NCEA compete against each other through several rounds. Later into the evening and late into the night, the L3 Showmanship (13&U and 14-18), as well as the L2 Western Pleasure and L3 Ranch Riding (14-18) took place.
Alexa Brown and the 22 year old Corporate Credit couldn’t show at the AQHYA World Show last year because “Dusty” was involved in a trailer wreck on the way to the show. After scoring an impressive 242.5 in the 13/under Trail they are now World Champions. Corporate Credit is one of those special horses that has been around the block and has taken several riders to the Winner’s Circle. Alexa is the daughter of trainer Tonya Brown.
“I’m so incredibly happy and proud. Dusty made a lot of my dreams come true and now he is continuing that with Alexa,” says former owner, Bonnie Sheren. “Needless to say a very talented horse and rider and even more special is the love this family gives to Dusty every single day.”
Another big win was Tatum Richey and Ode To Zippo who gave us all the feels winning the World Championship in the 14-18 Trail with a whopping score of 249 (five points higher than the second place team). Tatum has been competing with Ode at the World Show since 2015, and this is her first gold trophy. Congratulations on a very well deserved win. This duo is under the supervision of Bruce Vickery and Anthony Montes.
The competition was steep with the Top 5 in the 14-18 Trail Class scoring a 241 or higher. The pattern was almost four minutes long and it flowed very well. One of the most challenging parts of was at the end when the riders came off the elevated lope overs and had to stop immediately for eight elevated walk overs.
The evening brought the showmanship finals where the World and Reserve World Champions in 13/under Showmanship were Avery Mortman and Just A Touch More who brought home the gold and Carley Rutledge and VS Born To Be Good who brought home the silver. There were 56 exhibitors in a nice class of talented young showmen.
One of the more popular classes came next; the 14-18 Showmanship. Cori Cansdale and Promotional Asset conquered a very difficult pattern that included backing a big figure eight and navigating through small trees which were in place of cones. “I’m super excited with my pattern and the back circles were my favorite part,” Cori told us. “Chucky was such a good boy and gave his all.”
The Level 2 Western Pleasure went late into the night where Lane Kail and A Good N Hot Machine took home the win. The look on Lane’s face when he realized he had won was priceless. Lane comes from a successful family of judges and trainers – Andrea (Farley) Kail, Ryan Kail, Debbie Kail, and Bob Kail and gets help with “Goody” from Dave Archer. Clearly, Lane has the talent to carry on the family tradition if he chooses.
Update #3
Monday saw the largest class of this year’s AQHYA World Show; the Level 2 Horsemanship with 176 entries. Following some impressive rides and tough competition, once the dust settled and the sweat dried, Kyla Jackson and Cadillac In Black took home the win and enjoyed their victory lap.
“The comeback is greater than the setback” was Kyla’s mentality heading into her very first AQHYA World Show. After a trailer wreck on the way to Oklahoma City last year sidelined this team, the win this year was extra special. Congratulations to Kayla and her trainer, Nancy Renfro for persevering and coming out on top.
Other winners included Madeline Keyes and Classic Circle who received the gold globe in Working Hunter while Abigail Hardy won her first World Championship aboard My Secret Past in Equitation Over Fences.
The day ended with a fun, long-standing Youth World tradition; the Parade of States where all the youth teams from around the world were introduced in a spectacular ceremony. It’s great to see that some things never change as this event has been shared over the years by many youth exhibitors from all over the globe.
Update #2
Sunday at the AQHYA World Show was busy in the morning with the Showmanship 14-18 Level 3 prelims followed by the Western Horsemanship L3 (13&U,14-18) and the Hunter Under Saddle L3 (13&U,14-18) finals. In the 13&U Horsemanship, Emma Gore and My Only Good Shoes won her first World Championship while Claira Bingaman and Red Hot Options took home the silver globe.
A prestigious group of exhibitors made up the finals of the Level 3 – 14-18 Horsemanship, including best friends, Nya Kearns and Olivia Tordoff who were the final two standing. Olivia told us when we interviewed her for the July GoMag cover story that one of the best memories during her youth career was standing in the rain with Nya singing at a horse show in Georgia. These two talented riders will be forever friends due to their involvement with horses. This is Oliva’s last year in the youth division and we are sure that sharing this experience with her close friend will be forever etched in her memory.
The golden globe in the 13&U Hunter Under Saddle went to Claira Bingaman (her second trophy of the day) and A Blazen Asset. “Legacy” and Claira hadn’t been to a show together in ten months due to injury and they thought she may not make it back to the show arena. However, she rehabbed and recovered in time for this team to be crowned World Champions. GoHorseShow saw the emotions when she was crowned the winner and it continued to the picture line where she was crying and hugging everyone.
The final winner of the evening was Talk Southern To Me and Alessandra Ehrle who was first on three cards in the Level 3 – 14-18 Hunter Under Saddle. This gorgeous bay gelding is by Amy Gumz’s stallion, Its A Southern Thing. This win was his first AQHYA World Championship as a sire.
It was announced that three hundred and fifteen 13&U youth exhibitors are competing in Oklahoma City this year. Last year was the first year the championship show added 13&U classes and it is an encouraging reflection on the industry to see so many young exhibitors excited to be here.
Update #1
On Saturday at the AQHYA World Show, two premier and highly popular events going on all day were the preliminaries of the 14-18 Trail and the Level 2 Trail. Adriana Cimino and RL Best Of Goodbar came away with the win in the L2 Trail with an impressive score of a 247.5. This team is sitting second going into the Level 3 Finals later on this week.
Bruce Vickery and Anthony Montes of Vickery Performance Horses had impressive prelims with three exhibitors with the top 3 scores going into the 14-18 Level 3 Trail finals. Emily Maul and Only Temptation, who already has a golden globe with her mount, is leading again, followed by Cimino, and Tatum Richey and Ode To Zippo are sitting third.
We wish everyone the best of luck in the finals on Tuesday morning. We captured a video shown above of Adriana Cimino’s victory lap from her win today.
Congratulations to everyone who placed and who made it to the finals.
