Dennis & Kathy Creighton & Just Plain Nic Friday started out with a great class of cutters and wild run-away cows. Carol Williamson on Mr San Olean made the finals, so we’ll cheer her on tomorrow morning in the finals.

As each of the finals are run, more trailers leave, so the parking lot is beginning to be a lot less crowded. Our friends, Kathy and Dennis Creighton from California (Dennis competed in the Reining on his horse Just Plain Nic – see photo) left yesterday. They had a wonderful time and Dennis had a good run in the Reining, but backed up one too many steps (boy, those judges are picky!). With 61 entries, he was not able to make it back in the finals, but says to watch for him next year on his new horse!

Next up were the Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation classes. Several California riders made it into the finals, so cross your fingers one of them will be successful in their quest for a World Championship.

In between the English classes, the Working Cowhorse class was held. Several California riders/horses competed and made it back into the finals. They were Daryl Lunde, Paicines, CA and Sweet Paramour and Gary Lynn Olson (who actually lives in Wyoming, but trains in California with Benny Guitron) & Justa Nutha Tucker. Both gave top performances and may be our California World Championship winners when the finals are run on Saturday.

Last up were the finals for the Barrel Racing and Pole Bending. Doug Brown, Paso Robles, CA. had smoking fast runs and ended up with a 5th place on He Reigns Supreme in the Pole Bending and a 10th place on Rene To Run. In the Barrel Racing, (a class Doug doesn’t normally compete in) he was in the 12th place spot.

Following the cutting finals on Saturday will be the Jumping and Pleasure Driving classes, followed by the finals for the Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation classes.

Days 11 & 12

The cutting finals were exciting, with Carol Williamson bringing home a 3rd place on a beautiful black stallion named Mr San Olean. Doug Williamson, trainer and happy husband was grinning ear to ear. Following the cutting were the Western Horsemanship and Hunter Under Saddle finals (sorry, no Californian’s in the top ten). Next up was the Working Cowhorse, one of my favorite classes. We Californian’s were rooting for Daryl Lund, Paicines, CA and Sweet Paramour who were riding in the finals. Also, in the California barn with Benny Guitron was Gary Lynn Olson (who lives in Montana, but trains with Benny in California) and Justa Nutha Tucker. Both riders had great go’s in the preliminaries, so we were hopeful a Californian (or at least a part-time Californian) would win. Daryl went first and seemed to get stuck in one of his turns. What we found out later is his mare had lost a shoe in the middle of a turn. That cost him a top ten placing – but we still had Gary Lynn and hoped she would do well. She drew a smoking fast cow and scored a 434 to win the class. This is Gary Lynn’s second World Championship title in the Working Cowhorse as she also won the class last year!

Next up was the Hunt Seat Equitation, Shelley Sheppard, Riverside Ca. riding Dees Old Gold won a 6th place followed by a nice preliminary class of Working Hunters. No Californian’s made the top ten in this class. The show is winding down with only one more day of showing. We’re packing up as we decided to head home tonight, so we have friends who will call us to let us know who won the Trail, Jumping and Pleasure Driving finals. We left Amarillo around 6pm, headed for Alburquerque. After 6 hours, we reached the Amarillo Fairgrounds. Luckily, Cynthia is an incredible driver, as well as trainer, so she guided us into the maze to find a stall for Classy Reprint. We collapsed in bed around 1:30am and arose by 6am to get back on the road to California. We didn’t stop driving until we hit Cynthia’s barn in Paso Robles at 1am (okay, we stopped for gas, quick food and of course shopping at all the Cracker Barrel stores). Along the way, we had updates on the classes and Jean Swiss won reserve champion in the Trail class aboard After Eight and Kathy Hunt, Clovis, CA driving Skys Moon Pie won the Pleasure Driving! All in all it was a thrilling show. I can’t wait to come back next year if I’m lucky enough to qualify!