Seventy two year-old select exhibitor, Betty Watt, is not your average grandmother of five. This busy lady uses an iPad and is riding horses while most people her age consider golf a strenuous activity. She also still pulls her own living quarters trailer to the horse shows with her traveling partner, her Corgi, Hooter.
Watt knows she has the best of both worlds. During the summer, she stays at her ranch in Elbert, Colorado, and in the winter, she lives in Wickenburg, Arizona and trail rides her mule, Viola.
Another fun fact about this spunky lady is that she used to own and show draft horses for 10 years. She owned a famous 19.5 hand draft horse named Goliath that was inducted into the Guiness Book of World Records as the tallest horse. She also drove a team of Percherons and showed in Lady’s Cart.
Eventually this talented lady switched over to showing Quarter Horses. This year was Watt’s seventh time to show at the Select World. She wasn’t sure whether she would be able to show in Amarillo this year due to an accident on an electric scooter that fractured and displaced her pelvis.
“It happened in March at the last day of the Vegas show,” Watt recalls. “It was very difficult and painful to heal from. I felt like a catch rider at the Select World as I only got to ride a few times before the show. I don’t have many more years left that I can still be competitive so I thought I better try to get here this year.”
Watt showed her horse, Dun In the Dark (Bucky), in the Trail and Western Riding. Bucky and Watt are IBHA World Champions in the Western Pleasure. She ended up 16th in the Western Riding which she says was “a bummer” and didn’t make the finals in the Trail, but she said she was glad to be back in the saddle after five months of recuperation and physical therapy.
“Everyone loves Bucky,” Watt says. “He is such a happy horse and never pins his ears. He seems to never be in a bad mood.”
Betty shows under the guidance of Chad Evans and says that she enjoys hauling with him because he is always positive and organized. Besides the heat, she said she enjoys attending the Select World because she enjoys seeing all her friends.
“I know it’s not a very original answer, but I think most of us show at this age to have fun and to see our friends. The competition is tough but everyone cheers on everyone else, and I’m glad I was able to have this experience again this year.”
