Check out the photos below from Day 5 of the 2009 AQHA World Championship Show (click on the photo to see the captions). For more coverage of the World Show, go to aqha.com.

She’s the golden girl.

Sharnai Thompson gets a hug from her trainer, Team Wrangler member Charlie Cole, after she won the amateur western pleasure world championship on Sleepin In The Rain.

All decked out in shimmering gold, T. Sharnai Thompson broke down in tears when it was announced she and her mother’s 4-year-old mare, Sleepin In The Rain, were the 2009 amateur western pleasure world champions.

It was the third gold trophy for the 22-year-old at the 2009 AQHA World Championship Show, winning two more in amateur pleasure driving and hunter under saddle on Hot Ones Only.

The three-time youth world champion had four back-to-back finals on November 9 – the amateur pleasure driving with her 3-year-old stallion, Hot Ones Only, and the amateur western pleasure, amateur western riding and horsemanship with Sleepin In The Rain.

That’s a lot of tack and wardrobe changes. But at the end of the busy day, one moment stood out in her mind as extra special … and it wasn’t anything golden.

“I’d have to say that the third in the western riding was a really big accomplishment for me; behind Harley D Zip and Majestic Scotch, who are the greatest western riders ever, and I was right there behind them on my little 4-year-old mare,” Sharnai said of the bronze finish. “That was really exciting. Really exciting.”

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Related Posts:

• World Show: November 13
• World Show: November 11
• World Show: November 21
• World Show: November 9
• World Show: November 19