Totally Tops 2017

Arabian Horse World Leading Riders and Handlers

“First I want to congratulate the Totally Tops Champion Halter Trainer Sandro Pinha,” says Andy Sellman, who was Reserve Champion Halter Trainer, after having been Champion for the past 5 years. “Sandro did a beautiful job, he had beautiful horses and he showed them in a professional manner. My hat’s off to him.

from 2017 U.S., Canadian, and Sport Horse Nationals

HALTER

Computer research by Douglas Tatelman

Champion Reserve Top 10

Sandro Pinha Andrew Sellman Michael Byatt Bruno Guiraldelli Joseph R. Alberti II Austin Colangelo Steven D. Heathcott David C. Boggs Jeff Schall Keith R. Krichke

don’t lie, you really are Totally Tops in the Arabian

professional trainers and amateurs who

breed. Congratulations from all of us at Arabian

have risen to the top of their disciplines

Horse World.

at the U.S., Canadian, and Sport Horse National

NAME

SCHATZBERG PHOTO

E

ach year we identify the Totally Tops

PLACE

We would like to applaud those who’ve made

shows. The tallies are based on the number of

Tops in previous years. Join us as we salute our

wins each trainer or amateur has accumulated as

Totally Tops 2017 winners. We thank them for their

specified on the following pages. Congratulations

fine examples of horsemanship and for taking the

to those who have made the list — numbers

Arabian to even higher levels of performance.

WESTERN PLEASURE

• Points are awarded as follows: 10 points for champion; 7 points for reserve champion; and 4 points for a top ten.

• A trainer must have at least two top ten wins or one reserve championship to be listed.

• Totally Tops charts count only the horses actually shown by these individuals; every effort is made to confirm each trainer’s point tally.

• Amateurs are designated by a rider or handler who shows in at least one amateur class.

• Amateur classes are tallied separately from all other disciplines.

Classes not included: Sidesaddle, equitation, or exhibition classes; carriage pleasure driving classes; supreme classes; JTH, JOTH, JTR and JOTR classes; U.S. National AEPA and AWPA futurity and maturity classes.

Classes included:

PLACE

NAME

Halter and Sport Horse In-hand – these are two separate halter divisions.

Champion Reserve Top 10

Joe Reser Josh Quintus Brett A. Becker Gordon Potts Abram Cotton J. T. Keller Jody J. Strand Robert Bick Sarah Paripovich Zachary James Powell

English – Park, English pleasure, country English pleasure, driving, informal combination.

Hunter Pleasure – Hunter pleasure, .

Show Hack – All show hack classes.

Trail – Trail, trail junior horse, trail futurity, English trail.

Western Pleasure – All western pleasure classes

HESS PHOTO

• All divisions include purebred and Half-Arabian wins.

Working Western – Reining, cutting, working cow, reined cow, ranch horse riding, herd work.

Native Costume – All native costume classes.

Amateur – ATH, AATH, AAOTH, AATR, AAOTR, AOTH, AOTR, AOTD or AAOTD classes, and Amateur Sport Horse classes.

100 98 96 78 64 64 58 53 53 49

Champion Halter Sandro Pinha with Grand Promise NA (Grand Commandd x Promises Psy).

Totally Tops Rules – How we tallied the Tops for 2017 Things you should know about how we compiled the rankings:

POINTS

POINTS 66 43 34 30 26 23 22 18 16 16

Champion Western Pleasure Joe Reser with Ima Big Star (Poco Van Star x Mint Jullya V).

“Of my winners I really enjoyed BH Beijings Velvet (Beijing BHF x BH Versaces Velvet) to Reserve Champion Mare. It was the first time I’d shown her.

And I also showed her daughter Venetia BR (by *Marwan Al Shaqab) to Top Ten Yearling Filly; that was nice to show mother and daughter.

“The U.S. Champion Senior Gelding had been with me since he was a weanling, and it was the first time he showed at nationals.

“But the real highlight of the show for me was the progress made from 2016 to 2017 in terms of the way the halter classes were run and presented. In January 2017 it was determined that AHA was going to listen to the concerns of the halter owners and handlers. President Nancy Harvey was adamant that she’d like to right some wrongs, and she was open to suggestions from the halter people. Thanks to her and the show commission, there was great improvement.

“The feel, the energy, the announcers, and the decorations in the show arena were all much improved. They made great strides.”

"You could actually sit and enjoy the show. Another change: the USEF mandated that we demonstrate that we were taking the rules seriously, so the position of penalty judge was introduced.

And while we may want to refine that role a bit, the overall effect was a calmer showring.

Sport Horse Performance – Working hunter, dressage, sport horse under saddle, hunter hack, hunter/jumper, jumper.

“And on finals night, it was fun to watch the best of everything in the Ford Truck Arena.”

Multi-discipline Pros – All trainers who appear on two or more Totally Tops lists.

~ Andy Sellman, Totally Tops Reserve Champion Halter

26 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

27 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

Leading Riders and Handlers from 2017 U.S., Canadian, and Sport Horse Nationals Computer research by Douglas Tatelman

E

ach year we identify the Totally Tops

don’t lie, you really are Totally Tops in the Arabian

professional trainers and amateurs who

breed. Congratulations from all of us at Arabian

have risen to the top of their disciplines

Horse World.

at the U.S., Canadian, and Sport Horse National

We would like to applaud those who’ve made

shows. The tallies are based on the number of

Tops in previous years. Join us as we salute our

wins each trainer or amateur has accumulated as

Totally Tops 2017 winners. We thank them for their

specified on the following pages. Congratulations

fine examples of horsemanship and for taking the

to those who have made the list — numbers

Arabian to even higher levels of performance.

Totally Tops Rules – How we tallied the Tops for 2017 Things you should know about how we compiled the rankings: • All divisions include purebred and Half-Arabian wins.

• Points are awarded as follows: 10 points for champion; 7 points for reserve champion; and 4 points for a top ten.

• A trainer must have at least two top ten wins or one reserve championship to be listed.

• Totally Tops charts count only the horses actually shown by these individuals; every effort is made to confirm each trainer’s point tally.

• Amateurs are designated by a rider or handler who shows in at least one amateur class.

• Amateur classes are tallied separately from all other disciplines.

Classes not included: Sidesaddle, equitation, or exhibition classes; carriage pleasure driving classes; supreme classes; JTH, JOTH, JTR and JOTR classes; U.S. National AEPA and AWPA futurity and maturity classes.

Classes included: Halter and Sport Horse In-hand – these are two separate halter divisions.

English – Park, English pleasure, country English pleasure, driving, informal combination.

Hunter Pleasure – Hunter pleasure, .

Show Hack – All show hack classes.

Trail – Trail, trail junior horse, trail futurity, English trail.

Western Pleasure – All western pleasure classes Working Western – Reining, cutting, working cow, reined cow, ranch horse riding, herd work.

Native Costume – All native costume classes.

Amateur – ATH, AATH, AAOTH, AATR, AAOTR, AOTH, AOTR, AOTD or AAOTD classes, and Amateur Sport Horse classes.

Sport Horse Performance – Working hunter, dressage, sport horse under saddle, hunter hack, hunter/jumper, jumper.

Multi-discipline Pros – All trainers who appear on two or more Totally Tops lists.

26 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

“First I want to congratulate the Totally Tops Champion Halter Trainer Sandro Pinha,” says Andy Sellman, who was Reserve Champion Halter Trainer, after having been Champion for the past 5 years. “Sandro did a beautiful job, he had beautiful horses and he showed them in a professional manner. My hat’s off to him.

HALTER NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Sandro Pinha Andrew Sellman Michael Byatt Bruno Guiraldelli Joseph R. Alberti II Austin Colangelo Steven D. Heathcott David C. Boggs Jeff Schall Keith R. Krichke

SCHATZBERG PHOTO

PLACE

POINTS 100 98 96 78 64 64 58 53 53 49

Champion Halter Sandro Pinha with Grand Promise NA (Grand Commandd x Promises Psy).

WESTERN PLEASURE NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Joe Reser Josh Quintus Brett A. Becker Gordon Potts Abram Cotton J. T. Keller Jody J. Strand Robert Bick Sarah Paripovich Zachary James Powell

HESS PHOTO

PLACE

POINTS 66 43 34 30 26 23 22 18 16 16

Champion Western Pleasure Joe Reser with Ima Big Star (Poco Van Star x Mint Jullya V).

“Of my winners I really enjoyed BH Beijings Velvet (Beijing BHF x BH Versaces Velvet) to Reserve Champion Mare. It was the first time I’d shown her.

And I also showed her daughter Venetia BR (by *Marwan Al Shaqab) to Top Ten Yearling Filly; that was nice to show mother and daughter.

“The U.S. Champion Senior Gelding had been with me since he was a weanling, and it was the first time he showed at nationals.

“But the real highlight of the show for me was the progress made from 2016 to 2017 in terms of the way the halter classes were run and presented. In January 2017 it was determined that AHA was going to listen to the concerns of the halter owners and handlers. President Nancy Harvey was adamant that she’d like to right some wrongs, and she was open to suggestions from the halter people. Thanks to her and the show commission, there was great improvement.

“The feel, the energy, the announcers, and the decorations in the show arena were all much improved. They made great strides.”

"You could actually sit and enjoy the show. Another change: the USEF mandated that we demonstrate that we were taking the rules seriously, so the position of penalty judge was introduced.

And while we may want to refine that role a bit, the overall effect was a calmer showring.

“And on finals night, it was fun to watch the best of everything in the Ford Truck Arena.”

~ Andy Sellman, Totally Tops Reserve Champion Halter

27 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

“I’ve never won anything! Maybe I just outlasted everyone,” says a happy Jim Lowe.

“My personal drive is to keep up with my peers. Now it’s me against the young guys, and that new regime is scary good.

“When I was first starting out, it was Gene and Ray LaCroix, Kit Hall, Stanley White, and maybe 10 other great trainers.

Today there are 35-40 men and women who are as good as anyone. Now Dalton Budd can win a class and he’s barely old enough to get into a bar. And John Golladay is not far behind him.

“More than ever it’s an even playing field — there are just so many good ones.

There is no question that the standard is higher than ever. Everything the LaCroixs knew has filtered into all of us dinosaurs that are still in it. And then all these kids have learned from all of us, and then you throw in some different people in different disciplines who have shared what they know…and now it comes down to who has the best stock.

"The Arabian world is very open in terms of trainers sharing with other trainers. In California it would be hard to find a trainer who hasn’t been influenced by Brett Becker, including me. I have also been helped by Rob Bick and Caroline Schroter, and of course, Ray and Gene.

“No doubt my best ride of the year was winning Champion Half-Arabian Show Hack with SF Stonewoods N Cook (SF Specs Shocwave x Doubletrees Lady of Intrigue), Nancy O’Reilly’s gelding. He was flat on the button.

“I’m always judging myself by how it feels. I know what a perfect ride feels like, and I’m searching for that feeling all the time. And I was feeling that — his rhythm, connection, pliability and his willingness to work throughout the whole class. But it doesn’t matter how well I can ride him … if the owner can’t ride them nowadays, it’s not enough. It’s an amateur-driven business. continued next page

ENGLISH PLACE

NAME

POINTS

Champion James O. Lowe Reserve Joel Gangi Top 10 James Stachowski Jason Krohn Jonathan Ramsay Kevin Price Gabe Desoto Dalton Budd Joel Kiesner Shawn M. Rooker

84 76 61 56 54 49 46 45 42 37

Champion Show Hack and Champion English Jim Lowe with SF Stonewoods N Cook (SF Specs Shocwave x Doubletrees Lady of Intrigue).

HUNTER PLEASURE PLACE

NAME

POINTS

Champion Sally Randle Reserve Wendy Potts Top 10 Justin Cowden Cynthia Burkman Caralyn Schroter Jonathan Ramsay Lisa Monaghan Powell Jennifer White Yvonne E. Copple (Longauer) Cheryl Fletcher Kirsten McKillop

34 29 28 25 22 19 18 18 16 15 15

Champion Hunter Pleasure Sally Randle with Nicodemus PF (Eden C x Desiree BHF).

Anyone could have gotten on that horse and gotten that ride out of him. It’s a good feeling to know that he was that welltrained. It made me proud.

“I also won the Championship in the Half-Arabian Pleasure Driving and Reserve Champion Half-Arabian Country Pleasure with Phi Beta Kappah (Phi Slama Jama x BRA Quintessence). The same horse went Top Ten in the Half-Arabian Country AAOTR 55 and over. It’s hard to show a horse in open and amateur at the same show — there are too many good horses. But he’s a helluva horse.

WORKING WESTERN PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Crystal McNutt Eddie Ralston Shellee Kotera Elise Etzebeth Lance Scheffel Jim Hitt Gary Ferguson Tyson Randle John Garland Nathan Kent

POINTS 119 86 59 56 52 48 46 46 38 32

“But my most sentimental win was Top Ten Western Pleasure with CP Scintillation (Enzo x CP Luminaire) because we were all riding for the Stanley White Memorial trophy. I hadn’t shown a western horse in 15 years. Brett helped me get there. When I was first starting out, I was one of the first to work with Stanley White Sr. I saw him 30 days before he died. I kissed him on the forehead when I left. I knew I’d never see him again. I wanted to win a Top Ten in that class so bad. Just to make the cut was so exciting.

Champion Working Western Crystal McNutt.

NATIVE COSTUME NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Joseph G. Canda Susan Shea Sharon E. Blendinger Micheal E. Perry Tamara L. Collins Kathleen Stevens Shannon Beethe

SCHATZBERG PHOTO

PLACE

Champion Native Costume Joe Canda, pictured with Trial Bi Fire (The Firelord x VP Kharmel Candy).

POINTS 17 11 10 10 8 8 7

SHOW HACK PLACE

NAME POINTS

Champion Reserve Top 10

James O. Lowe 22 Todd Ehret 18 Diane Louw 11 Brooke Fuchs 10 Larry J. Hoffman 10 Cynthia Burkman 8 Wendy Potts 8 Jonathan Ramsay 8 Marggie Rushlow-Roberts 8 Chad Judy 7 Kevin Price 7 Kristi Stewart 7

29 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

“Stan White III was in the class, too (and went Top Ten as well), and he came by me at the hand gallop at about 400 miles an hour, and I thought, ‘If I can catch him without blowing up I can make top ten.’ When I caught him his horse blew all to pieces, but he didn’t get caught.

He was galloping the way his grandfather galloped. And his father won the open western eight times, more than anyone’s ever won it. So winning that Top Ten was cool, because it was with that family tree of trainers, the first family I ever worked for.

“And one more thing, I could not do any of these things if it wasn’t for my wife.”

~ Jim Lowe Totally Tops Champion English, Champion Show Hack, and Top Ten Multi-Discipline Pro.

“What a birthday, a National Championship sweep of all three dressage classes of the day! Thank you Zorro, Hook & Plum!”

“The most obvious national show accomplishment was winning the HalfArabian Hunter Pleasure Junior Horse with Dakotakhrome (Deo Valente x DW Magic Moment). I only had him for two weeks, and this was his first major show. But the wins that my amateurs and daughter accomplished parallel that.

“It’s like taking a big exam and getting an A — all that study time and homework does pay off!”

PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Jill Mitchell Lou Roper Scott Scheyli Jessica Bein Sterling Bradley Michael Damianos Deb Witty Jeffrey Wilms Dale Brown Jim Hitt Larae Fletcher Powell Joyce E. Thomas

146 47 43 39 34 27 12 11 8 8 8 8

Champion Multi-Discipline Pro and Champion Trail Jill Mitchell with Khadillac PGA (*Khadraj NA x Gai Fantasha).

SPORT HORSE HALTER PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Dana Desiderio Wendye Gardiner Bob Bennett Jr. David J. Conner Martha Rattner Lawrence Jones Kristen N. Petzold April Dinan-Scollard Brianne Dawn Focht Dorothy-Jo Cairns Victoria Shaw

I would like to thank Arabian Horse World for recognizing these accomplishments on a different scale.

I can’t thank my clients and friends enough for supporting me through this journey. And most of all to the amazing horses that have been entrusted in my care.”

~ Sally Randle, Totally Tops Champion Hunter Pleasure

POINTS

POINTS 122 48 42 42 36 34 23 22 22 20 20

Champion Sport Horse Halter Dana Desiderio.

SPORT HORSE PERFORMANCE PLACE

NAME

POINTS

Champion Mimi Stanley Reserve Chrystal Coffelt-Wood Top 10 Katharina Huenermann Wendy Gruskiewicz Patience Prine-Carr Ryan Yap Todd Ehret Kristine Phelps Tracy Pierce Kaedee Cole Nowakowski Roberta Eisenberg Brooke Fuchs

65 48 45 40 39 35 33 33 31 30 30 30

TARR PHOTO

~ Mimi Stanley, Totally Tops Champion Sport Horse Performance and Top Ten MultiDiscipline Pro.

TRAIL

Champion Sport Horse Performance Mimi Stanley with Wolkenzorro (Wolkenzauber x Midnight Lace HA).

30 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

SPORT HORSE AMATEUR PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Brittany Desiderio Alexis Starer Doughty Jessica Gilker Rebecca Fielding Caitlin Zech Kristen MacGarva Ashley Doyal Beth Noteman Mary E. Fischer Alexandra Ramage

POINTS 233 55 44 43 42 40 34 33 32 29

AMATEUR

Champion Sport Horse Amateur Brittany Desiderio with Updraftt (Baladin D OC x Run Really Run).

PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Elizabeth C. Dagnall Lindsay Smith Andrew G. Smith Nan Walden Jill Nelson Hillary Boothe Annalise W. Himmel Lorraine Prowse Katie Harvey Lindsay O’Reilly French

POINTS 94 73 71 68 64 53 43 40 39 39

HESS PHOTO

MULTI-DISCIPLINE PROS Champion Amateur Elizabeth Dagnall with TA Glacier (*Kordelas x Gloria AHSB).

PLACE

NAME

Champion Reserve Top 10

Jill Mitchell Dana Desiderio James O. Lowe Jessica Bein Jonathan Ramsay Gordon Potts Mimi Stanley Todd Ehret Kevin Price Brooke Fuchs Scott Scheyli Dennis Wigren

POINTS 154 144 110 82 81 77 69 67 64 59 59 59

31 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2018

“Thank you to all of my clients for your trust and support and the time you’ve given me to develop your fantastic horses. We had an amazing 2017, and with such a great group behind me, 2018 will be awesome.”

~ Joe Reser, Totally Tops Champion Western Pleasure

“TA Glacier (*Kordelas x Gloria AHSB) finally became my first stallion after his futurity year.

“As we learned to work together as a reining team, I realized he needed an alternative to the adrenaline of that discipline.”

We started performing dressage, which has strengthened our bond, and we’ve also expanded into sport horse in-hand and under saddle, western dressage, ranch, herd and cow classes. Glacier is the epitome of the versatile Arabian who also needs to be kept busy intellectually … and this is why 2017 was the year I earned AHW's Totally Tops Amateur Championship.”

~ Liz Dagnall, Totally Tops Champion Amateur