APHA Showmanship World Champions Are Ali Eidson/Gametime Sensation, Melissa Haberkorn/VR Knockyour Socksoff
By: Brittany Bevis
Two Showmanship World Champions were crowned this afternoon at the APHA World Show. One was a three-time returning World Champion and the other was a first-timer.
Although Ali Eidson and Gametime Sensation, aka “Doc,” have won a World title in Horsemanship and a Reserve Championship in Western Pleasure, this is their first in Showmanship. “I’ve been showing for 20+ years, and this is my first win in this class! I love this class. It’s my favorite, because I feel it’s the most synchronized with your horse. You have to truly know their every step, and you have to truly be one with them. They have to truly love it, I believe.”
Sadly, Ali confesses that Doc isn’t quite as fond of the discipline as she is. It’s been quite a process turning him into the Showmanship horse he is today. “I’ve had wonderful Showmanship horses my whole life, and Doc has been the hardest horse I’ve had. We always joke and call him the dairy cow. When we first started teaching him Showmanship, we would try to trot off, and he wouldn’t go. He just sat there and pulled on the lead. He would rather never do Showmanship. It’s his least favorite and my favorite, so I’m always dragging him out there to do it!”
Although Doc can be a less-than enthusiastic Showmanship participant, it’s Ali’s pure love of the discipline that has cemented a solid partnership. Ali purchased Doc in 2014, and he’s six years old now. She has been training with Simons Show Horses for the past seven years.
“Sara really has the finishing touch that sets you above everybody else,” she says. “She has the finest details in things. She really puts the final touch on it, and she has a way with the horses. Being a judge, I think she watches the style and really hones in on it. Even down to counting our footsteps, she’s that detailed.”
The day prior, Ali and Doc placed third in Equitation. Because this is the first year at the APHA World Show that they haven’t announced the individual judges’ placings, she had no idea where she would end up in the final results for Showmanship. “I had no idea where I was going to be. I knew people had great patterns, and I thought I had a good pattern, but I wasn’t sure. I’ve never had what it takes to be a World Champion in Showmanship. [Anne-Marie Fortenberry, the Reserve Champion] and I both had numbers that started with 12, so I didn’t know, down to the last second. To be World Champion… I’m speechless.”
The lack of an individual placings announcement also led to a surprise finish for Melissa Haberkorn, who won her third Masters Amateur Showmanship title in a row. Melissa and “Socks” have been a team for many years and they have competed under the guidance of Carly Veldman-Parks and Wade Parks since 2008.
“We all love Showmanship because Carly loves Showmanship. It’s actually not one of my favorite classes, but its Carly’s favorite, so it’s everyone’s favorite! It helps that he’s really good at it, and I feel comfortable with him. And I get him ready, myself. I think that’s really important to get your own horse ready. I want to know what he’s going to do out in the pen.”
How has this team managed to win the same class here at the World Show three years in a row? “We work at it. We don’t let little things get away from us. We keep everything crisp and on point. We try not to get sloppy.”
“Carly and I talked about that first transition down to a walk being crisp. Then, coming up to the judge to do the quarter turn into a profile set up was really important. He had a great stop and a two second set up, I won’t complain about that! His back was phenomenal. I was trying to catch up with him this time, so that was nice!”
Earlier in the show, Melissa and Socks placed Reserve in Equitation and seventh in Ranch Riding. Up next, they have Trail and Horsemanship.
