GoHorseShow is happy to have Taylor Searles reporting for us this week from the Sun Circuit in Scottsdale, Arizona. 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 showing in halter and is very supportive. Taylor is competing in the youth all-around at the Arizona Sun Circuit with her three horses: Flashy Attraction, Al Be Sweet On You and She Says Aloha.
One of special events that took place today was the Collegiate Horsemanship Invitational. It began with eight riders who competed in a bracket system with three rounds including the final. Originally the Invitational was to take place in the Wendell, but due to the weather, it was held in Arena 5.
With the use of the small arena, the pattern was shortened and then everything ran smoothly. Gabriella Salamone of Scottsdale, Arizona was one of the riders who participated in the challenge. Salamone said that she was “thankful to be asked to participate in the event. It was a great experience to be able to ride so many different horses that were generously donated by Sun Circuit exhibitors. The competition was tough but I had a blast!” Salamone came in second behind TCU’s Katie Gray. Special thanks to Suzy and Joe Jeane for organizing this great event.
We finally made it to the last weekend of the show. The rain schedule was still in effect even though it did not rain today, but the arenas were still flooded. The numbers did drop off a little today compared to the rest of the week, but still had an impressive number of entries. With the rain schedule, youth classes ran later than other days of the show with 14-18 Youth Trail wrapping up at about ten o’clock.The futurity payout at the Sun Circuit was of good size but nothing in comparison to the Smart Boons Down the Fence Challenge with a total payout of $20,000. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event due to competing in the trail, but I talked to horse show announcer, Darren Moore to get a recap.
And then there was rain. The Sun Circuit turned into the Mud Circuit today but the mud was soupy and I heard someone describe it as “a different type of mud.” The rain show schedule officially took place today and went off better than expected. The WestWorld facility had almost enough covered arenas to accommodate for the flooded show pens and many of the covered arenas were split in half including the Equidome which held the both Open Western Riding and the Youth classes.Since the arena was split in half, it was not large enough to hold the original Western Riding patterns. In the case that an arena is too small for a pattern to be run, AQHA has created a special pattern for this circumstance, Pattern 5. Many youth exhibitors, including myself, have never ridden Pattern 5 or even looked at the pattern. Even a majority of the Open exhibitors have not shown the pattern, World Champion Charlie Cole being one of them.
The rain held off today until the horsemanship classes when the Select and Amateur Horsemanships were moved into the covered Arena 3. It was only a light sprinkle but it was enough to wet hats and saddles. The show management has put together a rain schedule in case of the event that the rain continues on through the night. Everyone who has been apart of the Sun Circuit staff has done a wonderful job at keeping everyone informed of the changes and making it work, so as an exhibitor, I thank you.
Earlier in the day, the youth showed with a good set of numbers reaching thirty-nine in the 14-18 Youth Horsemanship and thirty-five in the 14-18 Youth Trail, ending the day early. A five hundred dollar gift certificate was given out in both the 14-18 Youth Horsemanship and the Amateur Horsemanship to the exhibitor who could answer the trivia question correctly.
While the youth showed today, I caught up with former youth exhibitor Hillary Roberts and asked her about the start of her amateur career. Roberts is one of the many past youth exhibitors who are debuting as amateurs at the Arizona Sun Circuit.
Hillary Roberts is a multiple AQHA World and Congress champion who concluded her youth career with two world championships last year. Roberts’ success has continued on into the amateur pen as she debuted at the Sun Circuit. On Tuesday, she showed her horse Chrome On My Zipper in the Amateur Trail receiving a second and ninth and also a first and fourth in the horsemanship. Today was also the first time Roberts showed Whatscookngoodlookin in the western pleasure as an amateur.
Roberts said that she was not very nervous to be an amateur but more excited. “It was a different experience to show against a new group of people. I really enjoyed it in the pleasure because it felt more like a maturity/ futurity at the NSBA World and Congress than just a normal class.”
Hillary is up for the challenge of competing against the top amateur riders and has done an excellent job making the transition.
Everyone at the Sun Circuit took a break from showing today, but the fairgrounds was still busying with excitement and hard work. Newly arrived youth began to practice for their upcoming classes. Not all the excitement happened on the fairgrounds though, for there was the Annual Sun Circuit Golf Tournament, organized by Mr. Bob Kail and won by Team Garret Cooper, Mark Lagerblade, Lowell Peterson, and Dave Iverson.The Sun Circuit has been filled with stories of people getting back into the show pen, and that is no exception for Mr. Joe Moran. Moran is a household name in the horse show business. But he is best known for cheering on his talented daughters; Kelly, who shows reining, and Theresa and the great, Vital Signs Are Good
I guess the weathermen were right about the rain because it poured right after the Senior Hunter Under Saddle for a total of ten minutes before the sun shined again at the Arizona Sun Circuit. After the clouds cleared, it was another beautiful day for the equitation and the all day trail and western riding. As I left the fairgrounds, the arena lights were on and people were still waiting around to show.
On the opposite side of the fairgrounds, one of the many fun filled activities took place in the Equidome with the Dizzy Dummy Roping, where participants competed for the chance to win a 55 inch flat screen TV.
For those of you who have not had the chance to attend the Sun Circuit, not only are you missing out on a great horse show but you are missing the chance to win prizes throughout the week. While some people have not had the chance to visit the cattle pens, I wandered over there to talk to the winner of the television, Brad Barkemeyer. Barkemeyer described his experience in the dummy roping, “There were ten contestants at the beginning who had to go through three rounds. In the first two rounds, the contestants had to spin twenty times and then rope the dummy. If someone missed they were eliminated from the competition but the final round was a timed event.” After an amusing final round, Barkemeyer was crowned the champion, but I felt like the real winner when Barkemeyer let me take a spin on his cow horse. Let’s just say I’ve been converted to the cow side!
The half way point of the Sun Circuit came to a conclusion today–tomorrow is the off day. Youth exhibitors will start to arrive at the show tomorrow, while many of the trainers take a so called ‘day off’.
Unlike what the forecast had predicted, the weather was once again close to perfect. A nice cloud cover was present in the afternoon with a few drops of rain barely enough to wet the ground. The show schedule today was the same as Saturday with the classes in Wendell going all day. Today was the last day for open and amateur halter classes who showed to four judges for a total of eight in two day with pairs of boots being given away in the performance halter.This halter class wasn’t just the last day for many to show, but it was the first time back in the show pen for someone who has been absent from it for at least ten years.
“It has been ten years since I showed in the hunter under saddle at the Select World and as many as thirty-five years since I showed halter as a professional,” says Select exhibitor Barbara Liska of Grants Pass, Oregon. Liska is the mother of AQHA Professional Horsewoman Deanna Searles, and she is a woman that I am proud to call my grandmother.
Sunday was another sunny day of horse showing at the Arizona Sun Circuit! The morning started off with the two to three point English classes followed by close to nine hours of open western riding. During the western riding, a helicopter continually flew over the the arena for what seemed like twenty times. The helicopter was buzzing over Westworld because they are doing security sweeps in preparation for the Super Bowl. The flyovers are an effort to keep visitors and residents safe from any potential threats–except if you are showing in western riding.
In the trail pen, twelve hours of trail were run with senior on one end and the select/amateur occupying the other end. The judges watched over a hundred and fifty Senior Trail horses maneuver through a very tight trail course. Although the trail was run in tight quarters, it seemed to work especially since the pattern was a tough one, so I applaud those who were able to remember it because I would have had a hard time. In the Equidome there were a record breaking number of entries in the roping and cowhorse taking twelve and a half hours. The National High School rodeo has been holding their cowhorse competition here for the last two days, it’s the first year for the cowhorse to be offered in the NHSRA.
Monday’s weather forecast is scheduled to be a bit rainy in the afternoon so the show management made prior adjustments with the arenas. The trail will be moved to the covered Arena Six and western riding will be shown in Arena Five in preparation for the rain. The reining will possibly be moved to Arena Three or Four depending on the severity of the rain. Being an Arizona native, I have come to learn that the weather is bipolar and the weathermen are usually wrong when it comes to predicting rain.
Today was a wonderful day for a horse show with the sun shining and a high temperature of 75 degrees. The halter, showmanship, western pleasure, and western horsemanship showed today in the Wendell. It was amazing to see so much talent being presented by the world class pleasure horses who showed in classes ranging from fifteen to thirty exhibitors.The amateur, select and novice western riding classes were in the SmartPak arena with about seventy runs. Trail ran all day in the far arenas with green and novice classes with plenty of entries.
I’m so excited to be reporting from the Arizona Sun Circuit, which I consider one of my favorite shows because of multiple reasons… good people, good horses, good times and good weather (rain permitting). Also, it’s in my backyard which is always a plus.
