AQHA WORLD SHOW: 2022 EVENT DRAWS OVER 7,500 ENTRIES IN OPEN, AMATEUR AND SELECT COMPETITION

Text Staff & AQHA reports Photos Shane Rux

Capital Quarter Horses in Pilot Point, Texas had plenty to celebrate at this year’s American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show.

Hillary Timchak collected a gold globe in the Level 3 Amateur Western Pleasure riding The Cooki Monster, a 2018 sorrel mare by Machine Made out of Capital’s own broodmare, A Cooki For Certain. In addition, JR Cook, of Cypress, Texas claimed Reserve in the class aboard Line Up Behind, also bred by Capital Quarter Horses. The 2017 bay gelding is sired by VS Flatline out of Shez Immortal.

“We’re very proud of our breeding program,” said Hillary’s mother, Susan Roberts, who herself won a World Championship title in Level 3 Amateur Select Western Pleasure with Start Ur Engines, a 2018 gelding sired by Machine Made and out of Momma Knows Best.

Competitors from all over the globe competed at the American Quarter Horse Association’s 2022 World Championship Show, Oct. 27 to Nov. 19, in Oklahoma City. The event drew more than 7,500 entries and 281 first-time exhibitors competed for 268 championship titles, 104 Farnam AQHA world championships, 44 Select world championships, 106 Level 2 championships and 14 Level 1 Champion of Champion titles, plus, more than $2 million in purse, prizes and the coveted gold globes. The most anticipated awards of the event were presented to the Farnam AQHA Superhorse, AQHA All-Around Amateur, AQHA Select All-Around Amateur, OKC Leading Owner, The American Quarter Horse Journal Reserve Leading Owner and the top AQHA Ranching Heritage-bred horses at the show. This year’s show also featured a variety of exciting events and extra added money including:

• $30,000 Cimarron award certificate presented by Cimarron Trailers to the 2022 Farnam AQHA Superhorse; • $50,000 in purse and prizes for the Pleasure Versatility Challenge, presented by Super Sires; • $50,000-added Level 3 barrel racing classes, courtesy of AQHA, the OKC Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shiner Beer and Succeed; • $25,000-added working western rail, $10,000-added two-part All American Quarter Horse Congress working western rail series and two ranch-style Harris Leather saddles, courtesy of Headley Quarter Horses; • $20,000-added 3-year-old stakes classes; • $10,000 cash and a Lisa Perry bronze to the AQHA All-Around Amateur; • $10,000 cash and Lisa Perry bronze to the AQHA Select AllAround Amateur; Free Ride the Pattern Clinics

AQHA Professional Horsemen volunteered their time to give 10 free Ride the Pattern clinics, presented by Nutrena.

These clinics gave exhibitors and spectators the perfect opportunity to learn how AQHA Professional Horsemen would approach a specific class or pattern at the show. You can watch the previously recorded clinics on AQHA’s Facebook page. Thanks in part to Nutrena’s generosity to match the amount donated at the Ride the Pattern clinics, the Professional Horsemen’s Endowment Fund a total of over $4,200. The AQHA Professional Horsemen also hosted an online auction, which raised more than $46,000 to assist professionals in crisis and will provide business education through the Professional Horsemen Academy.

You can still be a part of supporting AQHA Professional Horsemen by donating online at the AQHA Professional Horseman donations page. Your contribution to the American Quarter Horse Foundation is tax deductible, learn more today at www.aqha.com/give-to-the-foundationoverview.

Oklahoma City Leading Owner

The Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau Leading Owner is awarded to the owner who has the highest number of points accumulated for their horses entered at the Farnam AQHA World in both Level 3 and Level 2 classes across the amateur and open divisions. The owner must have three horses entered at the show to be eligible. This year’s Oklahoma City Leading Owner is Dan Fox of Chino, California. Fox earned 122 points with 11 American Quarter Horses during the show. The American Quarter Horse Journal Reserve Leading Owner is Josh Weakly of Shelbyville, Illinois, who earned 95 points with six American Quarter Horses. Farnam AQHA Superhorse The 2022 Farnam AQHA Superhorse is Hez Blazin Trouble owned by Bonnie Sheren of Studio City, California. The 2015 sorrel gelding, by RL Best Of Sudden and out of Troubles A Blazin, was bred by Stanley and Susan Scott of Ocala, Florida. In the Superhorse race, Hez Blazin Trouble earned 44 points and was shown by AQHA Professional Horsemen Jason Martin of Pilot Point, Texas; Ross Roark of Andrews, Texas; and Sarah Hauer of Pilot Point, Texas. Hez Blazin Trouble won the World Champion titles in Senior Western Riding and Performance Halter Geldings, the bronze in Senior Trail and was a finalist in Senior Hunter Under Saddle. Hez Blazin Trouble received an original Lisa Perry bronze and a $30,000 Cimarron award certificate, good toward the purchase of a Cimarron trailer. Farnam All-Around Amateur

Morgan Ratkowski of Pleasant View, Tennessee, showing Better Buy The Minit earned the 2022 Amateur All Around title. The 2005 bay gelding by Do You Have A Minute and out of Tickle My Asset, was bred by Kramer/Davis of Reddick, Florida. Ratkowski and Better Buy The Minit earned 51 points in the All-Around Amateur competition. The team earned the Amateur World Champion titles in Working Hunter, Hunter Hack and s

ttt On the opposite page (top) Hillary Timchak congratulates JR Cook as they are named World and Reserve World Champions in Level 3 Amateur Western Pleasure at the 2022 AQHA World Show. Inset is Susan Roberts, who won the Level 3 Amateur Select Western Pleasure there. On this page (top) a sample of the gold globes presented at the show; and Jason Martin riding Hez Blazin Trouble to a win in Senior Western Riding to help him capture the 2022 Superhorse title.

Equitation Over Fences, fourth in the Equitation, sixth Jumping and placed ninth in Performance Halter Geldings. Ratkowski received a prize package that included a neck wreath, $10,000 and a Lisa Perry Bronze.

Select All-Around Amateur

The 2022 Select AllAround Amateur is Laina Banks of Schulenburg, Texas. Banks showed Strawberri Wine. The 2008 red roan mare by Openrange and out of Buddys Buffalo Gal was bred by Katie Green of Ocala, Florida. Banks and Strawberri Wine earned 36 points and the Reserve World champion titles in Select Horsemanship and Select Western Riding. They were fourth in Select Showmanship and showed in Select Performance Halter Mares.

Banks received a prize package that included an original Lisa Perry Bronze and $10,000.

Gene Graves Super-Select Special Recognition

The 2022 Gene Graves Super-Select Recognition Award recipient is Linda Ball Sargent of Eustis, Florida. Sargent showed The Whoo, a 2017 sorrel gelding by The Lopin Machine and out of Whos Cheating Who. He was bred by Scott and Linda Berwick of Clarence Creek, Ontario. Sargent and The Whoo earned the title with 11 points. They were crowned reserve world champions in Select Western Pleasure.

Pleasure Versatility Challenge Winner

RV Not For Hire is the winner of the 2022 Pleasure Versatility Challenge, presented by Super Sires. “Teddy” was shown in all three classes by AQHA Professional Horseman Blake Weis, who picked up his third PVC win. Teddy is a 2019 bay gelding by Machine Made and out of I Will Be A Good RV by Good I Will Be.

“It feels good, actually,” Weis said. “It was nerve wracking … it was a little tight. The top three horses were really, really good horses.”

Second place went to VS The Fireman and AQHA Professional Horseman Aaron Moses, and third went to crowd favorite Xxtreme and Kyra Ley.

“I rode the horse last year at the World Show and really liked him,” Weis said. “I love him, but I didn’t have anyone (a customer) for him. Then early this year, my customer, Evon Werner, was looking for a horse and I knew Teddy was the one. So, I called Clay (Arrington) and asked him to bring the horse to Texas from Florida. Clay drove the horse to Texas the very next day.”

Now that Weis has won the PVC three times, does he have a good feel for the type of horse that it takes to win the event?

“I’m very big on the ‘look’ of the horse,” Weis said. “They have to be pretty. They have to Halter. Obviously, I don’t go buy versatility horses, but when I look at one, I take into consideration whether they would be a fit for this competition.”

Weis described Teddy as easy to train.

“R.J. King helps me with all my pleasure stuff. He’s my go-to when I feel like something doesn’t feel right,” he said.

Weis said the plan for Teddy is to “start adding Trail, Western Riding, all the classes. That’s what I like about this event. When you get to the World Show, you have about a week and a half to work with the horse and they just learn so much. So by the time you get home, they’re about ready to go.”

Horses competing in the Pleasure Versatility Challenge are shown sequentially in three classes in the Jim Norick Arena: a pattern class, sponsored by Cimarron Trailers, consisting of a blending of simplified trail and western riding maneuvers, which counts 40 percent; a Western Pleasure class, which counts 40 percent; and a Conformation Class, which counts 20 percent. Horses cannot have been shown astride in any western riding, trail or in any similar Pleasure Versatility Challenge event prior to the Farnam AQHA and Select World official entry deadline. There are no eligibility restrictions for the Western Pleasure or Conformation classes. Previous winners were: • 2018 KM Flat Out The Best, shown by Deanna Searles • 2019 Snap It Send It, shown by Blake Weis • 2020 Hot Lopin Lily, shown by Blake Weis • 2021 Wellthereyougo shown by Robert King The American Quarter Horse receives wide acclamation as the most versatile breed in the world. Undeniably, two of the most important disciplines of the American Quarter Horse are conformation and western pleasure. Two highly sought after talents of an all-around horse are the ability to change leads and navigate trail poles. Blend these four components into an event, and you have the Pleasure Versatility Challenge. The event highlighted a well-conformed, athletic horse that is a pleasure to ride. With a solid base of proper training, that horse can go on to become world-caliber in a number of classes – eventually reaching the level of the highest performing AQHA all-around horses.

The objectives of the event were to: 1. Promote superior American Quarter Horses that demonstrate form to function, quality forward movement and trainability. 2. Promote two fundamental AQHA classes, conformation and western pleasure, that serve as the foundation of the American Quarter Horse breed, as well as a pattern class that demonstrates some of the most basic desirable aspects of the AQHA all-around horse. 3. Promote a Lucas Oil AQHA World Championship Show entertainment value event for spectators. 4. Promote a showcase for potential private-treaty sale opportunities as an AQHA all-around horse. 5. Promote an event that is beneficial to the horse industry.

About the Show

The Farnam AQHA World, Select World and Level 2 Championships are the premier events in the equine industry for amateur, Select Amateur and Open exhibitors. The show includes Level 3 and Level 2 classes, as well as Level 1 Champion of Champions classes. The shows featured over three weeks of exciting competition, educational opportunities and a bountiful trade show.

For more information, visit www.aqha.com/worldshow.

ttt On the opposite page (top) Morgan Ratowski and Better Buy The Minit jump their way to a World Championship title in Amateur Working Hunter, helping them to earn the All Around Amateur Award at this year’s AQHA World Show. Below that a customer shops at the trade show (left) and Linda Ball Sargent carries out the silver globe she won in Amateur Select Western Pleasure riding The Whoo. At the bottom Blake Weis shows Invite Me Some More to a win in Level 3 Senior Trail. On this page (top left) a bird’s eye view of the Pleasure Versatility in action and Blake Weis with RV Not For Hire, winners of the 2022 event.