| 'Birthplace of Champions' since 1964 |
| Bringing home the ribbons at the |
| 2009 AIHR / HOA NATIONAL HORSE SHOW September 19th - 20st, 2009 Henderson, Texas |
| COSTUME CLASS: NATIVE AMERICAN Class is judged on authenticity and crowd appeal |
| James and Choctaw Cactus Queen (aka 'The Princess') waiting for the Senior Adult Frontier Costume Class to begin. This was the first time that Princess or James either one had ever competed, so they were both a little nervous to say the least. |
| Not doing to bad for their first time to ever compete, James and Princess placed fourth in Senior Adult Frontier Costume Class. He's already got suggestions on improving his outfit and horse gear for next year. So you guys better watch out! |
| James gets a little more relaxed once they get called in to start the class. While Princess finds comfort by staying close to Lil Bit during her first experience in the show ring. Not the greatest roll model if you stop to think about it... for Lil Bit's really a speed horse at heart. |
| Lil Bit could have cared less. She was getting petted and fed cookies to keep her mind on her job of pulling the cart....and keeping her mind OFF the arena. (For those of you who don't know Lil Bit, she has a need for speed and knows that arenas are for barrel racing and speed events) |
| As you can tell from the pictures, she had everything but the kitchen sink on that cart. Then again, it was supposed to be that way. You see, this event is judged on authenticity, accuracy of story and crowd appeal. Their storyline was that Bit, Samantha (Susan) and Belle (Holly) were caught in what history has labeled as the 'Runaway Scrape'* or 'The Great Scrape'. Bit did her best to play the part of the worn out old nag. We even got compliments on how good she looked for her age! *The Great Scrape/Runaway Scrape was right after the fall of the Alamo and Goliad, when Sam Houston was high tailing toward Louisiana to get help from the U.S. Soldiers because Santa Anna was hot on his trail (about two weeks behind him). Santa Anna was burning and destroying everything in his path, leaving the wives and families of the soldiers in the middle to fend for themselves. Many had already lost their husbands at the Alamo and Goliad. Packing whatever they could and getting away as quickly as possible, the women ran eastward as fast as possible while hauling their possessions, knowing that whatever they left behind would be destroyed. |
Holly gets a little rest while riding the cart in Frontier Costume Class.
| They called all of the first place winners of Costume Classes (from the various age groups) back into the arena to place the National and Reserve Champion for the class What a surprise it was when Lil Bit's name was called as NATIONAL CHAMPION for FRONTIER COSTUME ! TALK ABOUT GOING OUT WITH A BANG! |
| COSTUME CLASS: FRONTIER Class is judged on authenticity and crowd appeal |
Lil Bit does fantastic, bringing in FIRST PLACE in Senior Adult Frontier Costume Class. Gretchen compliments us on a job well done.
David shows Blair's Nu Candy Bar (aka Candy) in Native American Costume Class bareback.
| second in Senior Adult Native American Costume Class. |
Holly And White Wing Dove (aka Dovey) take the show ring to compete in the Native American Costume Class.
Dove and Holly get the blue ribbon,
placing first in Senior Adult Native American Costume.
placing first in Senior Adult Native American Costume.
Holly seems a little bit nervous when called back into the ring with the rest of the first place winners of Native American Costume. Even
though there was only one to represent each of the age groups, the judge had a job figuring out just who to place as the National Champion.
though there was only one to represent each of the age groups, the judge had a job figuring out just who to place as the National Champion.
| Holly rides White Wing Dove as they both enjoy winning the title of NATIONAL CHAMPION NATIVE AMERICAN COSTUME as well as the CHOCTAW STAR LEGACY AWARD for their great presentation. The award will be engraved with their names and travel to the new winners next year. |
| WESTERN PLEASURE |
| TRAIL CLASS |
| HALTER CLASS |
| SPEED & PARTNER EVENTS |
| PICTURES OF FRIENDS, FAMILY & OTHERS |
James & Princess take to the ring for Green Pleasure. Thank
goodness this class is only for horses that have been broke less than
twelve months. For even though Princess was broke and trained to
walk, trot and lope, she has always been a little uneasy on her
balancing of him, so he's never asked her to lope.
goodness this class is only for horses that have been broke less than
twelve months. For even though Princess was broke and trained to
walk, trot and lope, she has always been a little uneasy on her
balancing of him, so he's never asked her to lope.
| Unfortunately Susan And One Flashy Choctaw (aka Flash) were in the same boat. Even though the trainer had taught Flash to lope, she and Susan had never attempted it because Flash always seemed a little unsure when asked to lope. Susan figured that if Flash and Princess would at least do a fast trot and let the other horses pass them by, they may not place in the class, but it would be a great experience for each of the girls. |
| GREEN PLEASURE Horses ridden less than one year and never shown before. |
James is talking to Princess to keep her from getting nervous with all those horses running past her.
| Worst part always seems to be waiting for the judges, but Flash and Princess don't seem to mind standing around waiting for the placings to be announced. |
Holly takes Dove around the arena at a lope during Western Pleasure Class.
| Holly rides Dove to her first ever placing in Western Pleasure! They took home 5th place....not bad! |
| Holly's poor hat had to endure all of the riders throwing dirt on it... after she lost it when the judge asked us to lope. |
| David rides Candy in Western Pleasure placing 6th. Great for his first time to take her at a lope. |
| Even though they never place in Western Pleasure, Susan & Lil Bit paid their dues and did their best for the class. But, like I said, they never place in Western Pleasure. You seem to forget that Bit is a SPEED horse..... |
| THE THREE GAMBLERS Susan, Holly and David visit while awaiting the judges decision. They made a bet, just like old times...who ever places, the other two give 'em a quarter. What a surprise when David & Candy were called for 6th place! What an even BIGGER surprise when Holly & Dove were placed 5th! |
| Her first time ever in a show ring (or at any event for that matter) One Flashy Choctaw (aka Flash) does great bringing home FIRST PLACE in "O" Aged Mares (purebred mares over the age of four years) 2009 AIHR NATIONAL "O" (Purebred) HALTER CHAMPION & 2009 HOA NATIONAL HALTER CHAMPION |
| A few events later, Flash wows the judges a second time in the Halter Color Class She placed SECOND in AGED BROKEN COLOR (colored horses over the age of four years) & was also awarded BROKEN COLOR NATIONAL RESERVE CHAMPION |
Even though she's easy on the eyes, Princess didn't place in the "O" Mare Halter Class (purebreds less than four years of age)
| However, Princess made up for lost time when she walked in the ring for the halter color class. Placing SECOND in the JUNIOR BROKEN COLOR CLASS (horses less than four years of age) |
| Flash & Dove wait their turn for the judges inspection during the Halter Broken Color Class |
| Lil Bit and Candy (she's on the other side of Lil Bit) wait for the judges decision during the Halter Solid Color Class |
| Holly gives Dove some advice while they take their turn in the Halter Classes |
| Dove must have listened, for they placed 6th in "O" AGED MARES HALTER (purebred mares older than four years) This was a really good trick, for Dove NEVER places in halter.... |
| Her last time to attend a halter class, Lil Bit is ready for it to be over She's paid her dues all these years but has never placed in any Halter Classes |
| While the photographer tries to get Lil Bit to put her ears forward for a nice picture, Susan has a few words with Lil Bit. The moment she says "COOKIE?" Bit is instantly VERY interested in what Susan has to say.... |
| Maybe horse cookies were the answer, but Lil Bit did great, placing FIRST in "M" AGED MARES (Quarter Horse Mares over the age of four) Not bad for a 27 year old mare! |
David takes Blairs Nu Candy Bar (aka Candy) in the ring for the Halter Classes
| David receives instructions for the judge then chooses to lunge Candy instead of trotting her in a straight line to better show her movement and ground covering ability. |
| They did good considering they had never even practiced for this class placing SECOND in "M" AGED MARES HALTER CLASS |
Flash shows off her ground covering ability at both a walk and trot during the Trail Class.
| Backing through the obstacles calmly and quietly, Flash places SECOND in TRAIL CLASS |
| After being quite obedient during the Trail Class Lil Bit decides to voice her opinion, giving Susan some backtalk and making faces during her backing performance |
| Dove and Holly take their turn in the Trail Class. Even though they did their best, they didn't place. But hey, they looked good out there! The class was just to tough....there were alot of really good trail horses out there..... |
| David & Candy took to the show ring, doing a great job of representing the Rockin' B Ranch You never would have guessed that before that weekend, David had never even sat on that mare! ~ Come to think of it, he's got less than three rides on her when this picture was taken ~ |
| Princess & James did great, working calmly and quietly showing off one of the best horses at the Rockin' B Ranch ~ Heck, Princess was even gonna help James check the mail! ~ |
FOREST ESCAPE
BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE
| Playing the part of the old nag just 24 hours before, Lil Bit digs in attempting to leave Susan behind while she opens up making the crowd gasp each time she makes a turn ~ This 27 year old mare not only placed FIRST in this event, she ran it in 43.256 seconds ~ May not sound like much, but the next best time in that age group was 53.597 seconds ran by Vicki Ives / Timber Ghost, a young horse who placed second The closest time from ANY of the age groups for that event was 47.349 seconds ran by Victoria Lynn / Building A Mystery, a young stallion |
Running a clean run with no errors, David and Candy do their first speed event together, placing THIRD.
Running a little faster than Holly liked, Dovey made some great turns, placing 4th in Forest Escape.
| Deciding that she finally wanted to lope with Susan, Flash was a little upset that they actually had to make TURNS in this event But, after all was said and done, Flash did very well placing 5th in Forest Escape |
| Running their first speed event ever, Princess and James didn't place, but got a little excited when Princess actually started loping on the way out of the arena! |
TORCH RELAY ~ Partner Event
CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE ~ Partner Event
| Once again, Lil Bit makes Susan hang on while she once again tries to leave her rider behind while she run hard, placing first in Backfiring The Prairie Susan was quoted as saying, "Dang it mare, NO MORE ARTHRITIS MEDS FOR YOU!" |
| Candy puts up with David's riding while they run the Backfiring the Prairie event, placing 3rd. |
| Dove opens up and flies with Holly, placing 4th. Nice going for a mare and her rider who neither one likes to lope! |
| Even though Flash is a little spooked by the 'fire', she still does her best It's sad that she didn't place, for she loped out of the arena.... and that's one of the first times that she's loped for Susan |
| The 'fire' didn't faze her, but Princess did her best. Refusing to lope because she was unsure, she trotted nicely while going down the arena so that James to drop the 'torch'. However, she did break into a lope on the way out This was one of the first times that she has loped with him |
| When Candy teamed up with Lil Bit for this event, they had no idea of how they would place for David hadn't asked Candy to really OPEN up at a lope before now. ~ They did great, placing SECOND! ~ |
| Dove helps Flash when it's her turn for Torch Relay, placing THIRD! |
| Princess & James carried the torch around and handed it off to Dove & Holly. They weren't the fastest, but they did well, placing SIXTH. |
| Lil Bit & Candy partnered up once again for the Cherokee Ribbon Race placing SECOND ! |
| Princess & Flash teamed up for the Cherokee Ribbon Race Choosing only to trot the event, they managed to place SIXTH. |
| Lil Bit & Dove rode this event for Dove's points So, for the first time in almost ten years, Holly & Susan rode an event together. They didn't place because the ribbon was dropped by one of the contestants But what a show! |
| To see the captions for these pics, please put your mouse over the picture |
| These pages were done by Susan Tuscana Hall, and are the property of Rockin B Ranch. Photos done by Susan Tuscana Hall, Wilda Reichert, Kelly Hurd & K Crumbie. Special thanks to them for all of their great work and fantastic pictures! Do not use without expressed permission of both parties. |
| Before we get started with the pictures from the show, let's see how the Hands at the Rockin' B Ranch did at the Nationals! |
| ONE FLASHY CHOCTAW (her first time in a show) FIRST PLACE ~ 'O' AGED MARES HALTER CLASS AIHR GRAND CHAMPION 'O' HALTER CLASS HOA GRAND CHAMPION HALTER MARE SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR BROKEN COLOR HALTER AIHR RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION BROKEN COLOR HALTER SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TRAIL FIFTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT FOREST ESCAPE SENIOR ADULT BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE ~ NO PLACING THIRD PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TORCH RELAY PARTNERED WITH DOVE SIXTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE PARTNERED WITH PRINCESS AIHR HIGH POINT 'O' MARE RESERVE CHAMPION OVERALL HOA JUDGED (all judged events) GRAND CHAMPION OVERALL HOA HALTER (halter & color) |
| CHOCTAW CACTUS QUEEN (aka PRINCESS) FOURTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT COSTUME 'O' FOALS HALTER CLASS ~ NO PLACING SECOND PLACE ~ JUNIOR BROKEN COLOR HALTER SENIOR ADULT FOREST ESCAPE ~ NO PLACING SENIOR ADULT BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE ~ NO PLACING SIXTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TORCH RELAY PARTNERED WITH PRINCESS SIXTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE PARTNERED WITH FLASH |
| BLAIRS NU CANDY BAR (aka CANDY) SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT NATIVE AMERICAN COSTUME SECOND PLACE ~ 'M' AGED MARES HALTER CLASS SENIOR SOLID COLOR CLASS ~ NO PLACING SIXTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT PLEASURE THIRD PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT FOREST ESCAPE THIRD PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TORCH RELAY PARTNERED WITH LIL BIT SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE PARTNERED WITH LIL BIT |
| WHITE WINGED DOVE FIRST PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT NATIVE AMERICAN COSTUME AIHR GRAND CHAMPION NATIVE AMERICAN COSTUME CHOCTAW STAR LEGACY AWARD SIXTH PLACE ~ 'O' AGED MARES HALTER CLASS SENIOR BROKEN COLOR CLASS ~ NO PLACING FIFTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT PLEASURE FOURTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT FOREST ESCAPE FOURTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE SIXTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TORCH RELAY PARTNERED WITH PRINCESS SENIOR ADULT CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE ~ NO PLACING |
| LIL BIT (her last show before she retires) FIRST PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT COSTUME AIHR GRAND CHAMPION FRONTIER COSTUME FIRST PLACE ~ 'M' AGED MARES HALTER CLASS SENIOR SOLID COLOR CLASS ~ NO PLACING FOURTH PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TRAIL FIRST PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT FOREST ESCAPE FIRST PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT BACKFIRING THE PRAIRIE SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT TORCH RELAY PARTNERED WITH CANDY SECOND PLACE ~ SENIOR ADULT CHEROKEE RIBBON RACE PARTNERED WITH CANDY AIHR RESERVE CHAMPION SENIOR ADULT AIHR GRAND CHAMPION 'M' AIHR OLDEST HORSE AT SHOW (27 YRS) |
