March 17, 2010
AQHA Judges Sam Rose and Bill Enk
Many people at the AQHA Educational Judging Seminar aren’t here in Irving, Texas, to become judges: They’re here to become better competitors.
It’s not a bad idea. Where better to get tips on success in the show ring than directly from the judges?
Here are a few hints from Tuesday and the judges who gave them.
March 16, 2010
AQHA Professional Horsemen, Charlie Cole, left, Michael Colvin and Leslie Lange were instructors at the Educational Judging Seminar in Irving, Texas.
The 2010 Judging Educational Seminar is going on right now in Irving, Texas. Here’s what you’re missing if you’re not here.
March 15, 2010
When cowboys dress in drag for a good cause.
The March to the Arch charity AQHA horse show uses good fun to raise serious money for cancer research. (Journal photo)
There’s only one place in the AQHA horse show world where you’ll find cowboys dressed in drag and a live auction featuring things like “micro” piglets alongside the sobering reality of cancer.
But that’s the March to the Arch charity AQHA horse show in a nutshell.
Founded by trainer Doug Landon in 2006 and held every year since at the National Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, the all-volunteer show has grown to be a big draw for top AQHA show competitors across the country.
The show has raised more than $120,000 total and has supported cancer research by the American Cancer Society and the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute. This year’s funds go to the Children’s Hospital of St. Louis.
Why has it been so successful? “Because cancer affects everybody, it really does,” Doug told the The American Quarter Horse Journal on March 12. “We just had another lady here at the horse show; she just got diagnosed (with cancer) this week. People want to help where they can.
March 7, 2010
Craig Cameron's student figures out the obstacles all by himself.
“I always say, ‘Ride like a champion.’ Well, today I can finally say it and be it,” said trainer Craig Cameron after he was selected as the winner of the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting, Sunday, March 7, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
March 6, 2010
Ken McNabb builds trust with his colt.
There was a lot of “make the right thing easy, the wrong thing difficult” going on in all three round pens at the 2010 Road to the Horse today.
After the opening festivities, the 10-head remuda was brought into the Tennessee Miller Coliseum arena in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for clinicians Craig Cameron, Ken McNabb and Richard Winters to view.
Each clinician had three minutes to select his colt.
March 5, 2010
Colts in training at Road to the Horse
Friday night, the media got to meet the human and equine stars of the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting.
None of the three trainers competing in the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting – Craig Cameron, Ken McNabb and Richard Winters – are new to the event. However, Richard is the only one who has won it (2009).
So what strategies did they bring for competing in this year’s event?
February 6, 2010
Carol Rose and Jay McLaughlin at the NRCHA world finals.
The dirt was flying and cattle were neatly handled this weekend during the National Reined Cow Horse Association world finals, and some riders were wearing purple.
On February 6, the last finals were contested, including the highly anticipated open bridle championship. The winner might – or might not – have been determined by who was wearing purple. At least that’s the story for Carol Rose, Read the rest of this entry »
February 5, 2010
Amy Bailey adjusts her hat after winning the non-pro two-rein world championship at the NRCHA world finals February 5, 2010, in San Angelo, Texas.
Amy Bailey of Sparta, Tennessee, had one thought on her mind.
In the cow work, she needed to make it past the middle marker during her non-pro two-rein finals run at the National Reined Cow Horse Association world finals.
Patience had been a problem for her in the preliminaries, and she was determined to overcome that problem February 5 on SS Scat Cat.
January 29, 2010
The Sun Country Circuit in Scottsdale, Arizona, is one of the biggest winter AQHA show circuits (Journal photo).
The state of the show
.It’s been fickle weather for the Arizona Quarter Horse Association’s Sun Country Circuit – a few days of odd downpours followed by days of bright sunshine. But the show has been a blast.
Mark Harrell and his crew are keeping the rings running smoothly. Circle S Ranch sponsored an Italian feast for all competitors. Longtime exhibitor Joni Hegel has covered half the cost of a daily hot lunch for everyone at the show, from exhibitors to spectators.
And like the weather, so goes the average horseman’s opinion here as to the state of our horse show industry these days. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on January 26 certainly made fodder for thought in the minds of those showing in Scottsdale.
January 28, 2010
Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc are the 2010 open versatility ranch horse world champions. (Journal photo)
Read the entire story and all the show coverage online, brought to you by The American Quarter Horse Journal.
January 17, 2010
The amateur competition at the 2010 Fort Dodge AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show wrapped up on January 14.
When Colton Daniel’s gray stallion Circle Bar Pistol was called to the head of the lineup in amateur ranch horse conformation – the final amateur class at the 2010 Fort Dodge AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show – it seemed like he had the amateur title sewn up. The two had already won amateur ranch cutting and amateur working ranch horse.
But the word spread that it was a tie, and show officials – including Charlie Hemphill, AQHA senior director of shows, and Alex Ross, AQHA Read the rest of this entry »
January 14, 2010
The 2010 AQHA Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show continues. (Journal photo)
By the end of day Wednesday, January 13, at the 2010 AQHA Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show, Laurie Shelton and Areal Chic Magnet had taken a strong lead in the amateur with wins in amateur ranch trail and amateur ranch riding.
Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc had the lead in the open, Read the rest of this entry »