Halter wins are special for many at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Clark Bradley and Lea Ann Koch share a hug as she wins the WCHA Stretch Bradley non-pro yearling mares class. (Journal photo) For more photos from the Congress halter classes, scroll to the slide show at the bottom.

In 1978, Lea Ann Koch of Oswego, Illinois, was in her last year of AQHYA competition.

She enlisted the help of a well-known halter trainer to help her win the high-point youth mare title with Snip’s Robin Time.

They traveled a lot of miles in the pickup on the way to shows across the United States and in the midnight hours shared a lot of quiet thoughts.

So when Lea Ann heard that the World Conformation Horse Association had named its yearling non-pro stakes class at the All American Quarter Horse Congress for the late Stretch Bradley, Lea Ann knew she wanted Read the rest of this entry »

The All American Quarter Horse Congress is more than just a horse show and a great place to shop. Seminars, lectures and demonstrations are among the educational activities.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Pam Moreland "The Blanket Lady" poses with "Bertha" the washing machine in her traveling laundry. (Journal photo) For more photos, scroll to the slide show below.

Pam Moreland of Weatherford, Texas, has been in business for 12 years, but one night she had a dream.

“God gave me this concept in a dream a year ago in April,” Pam said. “He said, ‘Go mobile.’ So my husband built this mobile unit for me.”

Pam’s mobile unit is a semitruck and trailer with living quarters for her and her two dogs plus enough space for her real business — washing, repairing and selling horse blankets.

“It had to have washing machines,” she said. “It had to have a big washing machine for the heavies Read the rest of this entry »

AQHA Professional Horsewoman Stacy Westfall wins the freestyle reining competition at the 2011 All American Quarter Horse Congress.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Stacy Westfall rides TSW Can Can Vaquero bridleless in the 2011 All American Quarter Horse Congress freestyle reining competition. (Journal photo) To see more photos, scroll to the slide show below.

Expectations were high as AQHA Professional Horseman Stacy Westfall entered the coliseum October 15.

Stacy made her mark with a bareback bridleless freestyle reining routine at the All American Quarter Horse Congress’ freestyle reining competition on Whizards Baby Doll, aka “Roxy.” Since then, Stacy has moved on to a new horse for her freestyle routines, TSW Can Can Vaquero, and a new challenge from an old friend.

“My friend Ann Reusser, she kept teasing me that I was doing many “man” routines, because I like to do the dusters and I like to do the old cowboy thing, and she said, ‘You need to do a girlie one again,’ ” Stacy said. “In February, I went to Road to the Horse, and I needed to do a freestyle demonstration Read the rest of this entry »

Champions are chosen at EMO/PCQHA Novice Championship show.

By Pamela Britton-Baer

Exhibitors in amateur showmanship put on their game faces October 14 at the EMO/PCQHA Novice Championship Show. (Pamela Britton-Baer photo)

The results are in. The points have all been tabulated and on October 14, 23 new champions were crowned at the EMO/PCQHA Novice Championship show. But it wasn’t the awards that made the day special, nor was it the titles competitors won.

For people like Tina Darmohray of Los Altos Hills, California, it was about creating memories with close friends, Read the rest of this entry »

The Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association Novice Championship Show encourages people to try something new – and rewards them for doing so.

By Pamela Britton-Baer

Delia Trenbeath riding Zippos Gold Command at the PCQHA Novice Championship Show.

Anybody who has ever shown on the West Coast is familiar with Rancho Murieta, California. Located less than 20 minutes from the heart of bustling Sacramento,  “the Ranch” offers numerous covered arenas, several outdoor practice pens and the largest RV parking area outside of a NASCAR garage.  Well, OK, not really, but the place seems to get bigger and bigger each year. Read the rest of this entry »

Todd Bergen rides Shiners Dun Juan to the top of the 2011 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity open division for owner Janiejill Tointon.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Janiejill Tointon's horse Shiners Dun Juan won the 2011 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity with Todd Bergen aboard. (Journal photo) For more photos, scroll to the slide show below.

Janiejill Tointon of Longmont, Colorado, was inches from selling her horse. In fact, she had papers signed for his transfer until moments before the 2011 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity open finals began.

That’s when the buyer backed out and Janiejill’s unbelievable dream came true.

Her “sold” horse, Shiners Dun Juan, won the open finals October 2, and the $100,000 check that goes to the winner went to Janiejill.

“I’m riding him today,” Janiejill exclaimed between tears as she patted her horse’s neck.

Shiners Dun Juan is a 2008 buckskin gelding by Smart Shiner and out of Read the rest of this entry »

Annie Reynolds claims her seventh NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity non-pro championship with a homebred mare.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Anne Reynolds and Smart Magic Trick turn a cow on the fence September 30 in the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity non-pro finals. (Journal photo) Scroll to the slide show below for more photos from the Snaffle Bit.

The 2011 Snaffle Bit Futurity wasn’t Annie Reynolds’ first rodeo. In fact, it wasn’t even her first Snaffle Bit, let alone her first win. But it was still special to the seven-time champion.

In 1998, Annie won her first National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity with Magical Lena. On September 30, Annie won again with a daughter of Magical Lena, Smart Magic Trick, a homebred by Annie’s stallion Very Smart Remedy.

Smart Magic Trick is a 2009 sorrel mare owned Read the rest of this entry »

Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Justin Boots Championships in Omaha help set the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo field with big payouts.

By Kellie Carr

Jerrad Hoffstetter ropes his way into the WNFR. (PRCA photo by Kerri Allardyce.)

For a rodeo cowboy, making the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is the ultimate goal. It’s not only a dream come true – it’s the difference between making money on the year and breaking even. And when only 15 in each event get to go, the competition heats up big time.

So when it comes down to the last weekend of the season, the rodeo with the second-largest payout in the world can make or break a season. A qualification to Omaha, Nebraska, could be a cowboy or cowgirl’s ticket to the NFR, or give one a lead on a gold buckle. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

The competition format at Omaha Read the rest of this entry »

The AQHA Region Two ends 2011 with numbers up from 2010. 

There was fun for all at the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship in Rapid City, South Dakota. Scroll down for the Journal slide show and all-around winners.

By far the highlight of any Regional Championship is when the Markel Insurance-sponsored all-around award Tex Tan saddle winners are announced. It came down to the last horsemanship class for many of the awards at the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship – see the list of winners below.

The last Regional Championship of the year, Region Two finished with more entries than it had in 2010 – by show’s end they were at 1,560, unofficially, according to White Horse Show Management, Albion, Nebraska.

“Everything really came together,” says Todd Iszler of Bismarck, North Dakota. “I didn’t expect this much of an entry increase. I think last year we had about 1,100.” Todd  served as co-Chair of the Region Two Committee with Jo Waldner of Brookings, South Dakota.

The biggest challenge facing the committee this year, Todd says, was adding in the AQHA double-judged pointed show. The total entry count includes the Region Two and AQHA pointed shows combined.

“We need to tweak the schedule,” he says. “I don’t know if you can ever make the perfect schedule, timing-wise. This year in the reining and the trail, the numbers grew incredibly and we had them on the same day. You never know. It is a huge show.

“But I’ve had more and more people say that having the pointed show, being able to do two events at the same time, was one of the reasons they came.” Read the rest of this entry »

What are the odds that three full siblings would show in the same halter class?  

Katrina Haase of Valentine, Nebraska, and Perfect Premonition, aka "Limit," at the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship; scroll down for the Journal slide show photo of Limit with his two full brothers who also showed. (Journal photo)

Well, pretty good if the owners plan it that way. It happened at the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship in Rapid City, South Dakota, because three good horse show friends wanted to see their full siblings together in the halter pen.

In the amateur 3 and over geldings, Katrina Haase (Valentine, Nebraska) showed 2008 gelding Perfect Premonition, aka “Limit;” Sherri Bacon (Valentine, Nebraska) showed 2007 gelding LU Major Premonition, aka “Major;” and Hardy Huggler (Bayard, Nebraska) showed 2006 gelding LU Major Mister, aka “Freckles.”

All three sorrel geldings were bred by married veterinarians Joe Butler and Janet Wood of Valentine, Nebraska, and their Limit Up Quarter Horses. They are all by the late Mister Premonition and out of Shes Major Perfect (aka “Fadly”) by FDS Major Casmire.

All three owners met each other through showing halter at the Region Two – Sherri met Hardy and his wife, Elaine, at the 2007 show, and they connected with Katrina at the 2009 Region.

Knowing the geldings are full siblings begs the question: Are they alike?

“No,” says Katrina, and “Yes,” says Sherri, simultaneously; and everyone laughs.

“They’re all big personalities,” adds Katrina, and “They’re all quirky,” adds Sherri, again, almost simultaneously.

“They’ve all matured as they’ve grown up,” Hardy puts in, watching Freckles play with his hay bag.

Good friends now, connected through their good horses, it is a little tough keeping them all straight:

After meeting Sherri in 2007, Hardy and Elaine bought Freckles the next summer. According to the retired couple, Freckles is the most gentle and has the most white of the three.

Sherri works for Limit Up Quarter Horses. She pulled Major out of the pasture two weeks before the show for his AQHA debut. He’s got some white.

Katrina and her husband, Roscoe, farm outside Valentine. Neighbor Joe called her up one day and told her she ought to come look at one of his colts. She hemmed and hawed for two weeks, finally asking Roscoe to “please talk me out of this colt;” he didn’t and she ended up with “Limit,” who’s got the least amount of white.

The three geldings are broke to ride: Freckles packs the Huggler grandkids; Major helps Sherri move cattle; and Limit carries Katrina in western pleasure and horsemanship. Sherri says they get their size from their dam, Fadly, and all three are sensitive to flies.

One thing’s for sure – they’re NOT for sale. These friends have too much fun showing them all together. 

Learn more about all AQHA Regional Championships and more showing opportunities at www.aqha.com.

 Look for you and your horse in the coverage slide show presented by The American Quarter Horse Journal (click on the image to see the caption):

If you have a Region Two story to share, send a note to chamilton@aqha.org.

Christine Hamilton
Editor, The American Quarter Horse Journal

Josh Weakly wins weanling fillies and stallions in the Breeders Cup Halter Futurity at the Iowa Futurity Extravaganza.

By Larri Jo Starkey

Josh Weakly likes his colt's pretty head and back. The judges agreed September 23. For more photos from Iowa, scroll to the Journal slide show below.

Josh Weakly of Shelbyville, Illinois, had a good day September 23. To be precise, he had a day worth $40,040.

In the first Breeders Cup Halter Futurity, Josh won the amateur weanling stallions and amateur weanling fillies class. Both those first places carried with them checks for $20,020.

The Iowa Futurity Extravaganza in Des Moines features the Iowa Quarter Horse Association’s own Breeders Futurity. New additions to the show bill this year were the Breeders Cup Halter Futurity and a World Conformation Association Halter Futurity.

The whole extravaganza started September 22 and will Read the rest of this entry »

The 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship rolls into the weekend strong. 

Ann Hards of Berthoud, Colorado, and her homebred mare Lavish Love at the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Journal photo)

With more than 1,400 entries by the end of day September 22, the 2011 AQHA Region Two Championship is off to a great start, and The American Quarter Horse Journal is onsite again to capture the fun (don’t miss the slide show below).

The AQHA show attracts newcomers every year like Ann Hards of Berthoud, Colorado, who brought along her homebred mare, Lavish Love, to try for a novice amateur all-around award.

But people also keep coming back – it’s like a mini-reunion every year! Bryan Jones of Jamestown, North Dakota, returns after a two-year absence due to knee replacement surgeries. But nothing keeps Bryan away from riding for long, not MS and not cancer; you might remember Bryan from his freestyle reining performance on Nu Chex Nics, aka “Leroy,” two years ago.

New this year is an AQHA double-judged pointed show that is running alongside the Region Two Championship, offering exhibitors even more reasons to come to Rapid City and test their horsemanship skills. AQHA judges Leo Fourre (Minnesota) and Gayle Lampinen (Michigan) are judging the Regional Championship; AQHA judges Jane Bagley (Texas) and Michael Damianos (California) are judging the pointed show. AQHA judge Gene Carr (South Dakota) stepped in for the speed events.

The weekend holds a number of family events – if you’re nearby and need to entertain the kids this weekend, bring them out to the Central State Fairgrounds for fun activities. (See the schedule.)

September 22 began with speed, ran through working cow horse and roping classes and ended with western riding and an evening-hours Team Wrangler trail clinic with AQHA Professional Horseman Ryan Cottingim of New Albany, Indiana.

Learn more about all AQHA Regional Championships and more showing opportunities at www.aqha.com.

 Look for you and your horse in the coverage slide show presented by The American Quarter Horse Journal (click on the image to see the caption):

–Christine Hamilton, editor of The American Quarter Horse Journal.
If you have a Region Two story to share, send a note to chamilton@aqha.org.