Around the Rings – 2024 Arizona Sun Circuit – Sunday, March 3rd
Sunday, March 3rd at the 2024 Arizona Sun Circuit, Horsemanship kicked off at 7:30 AM in the Equine Chronicle Arena, and the class winner of L1 Amateur Western Horsemanship: Alysia Nielson and Dark Ladie! It was their second show doing the event. Watch what Alysia has to say about “Cher,” who is just starting her all-around career!
Alysia Nielson and Dark Ladie win L1 Amateur Horsemanship at Sun Circuit
The competition was fierce, and winning a horsemanship class was no small feat! See a few more of the many class winners below:
L3 Amateur Select Western Horsemanship
L3 Amateur Western Horsemanship
In addition to variety of disciplines at the show, Sunday also celebrated the Working Western Rail and Ranch Riding classes! 2024 marked the first year of AQHA approval for Working Western Rail, and it was a hit judging by class numbers. The Amateur Working Western Rail, for example, was a class of 42!
Joy and Mudd Bubbles
Joy Stehney had an incredible day Saturday at the show, so when we finally caught up to her at the Smith Show Horses’ stalls on Sunday, she introduced us first to Mudd Bubbles. He is the magnificent 2020 sorrel gelding by Heartz On Fire and out of Charmin Styles (by Kids Classic Style) who won the class of 18 Aged Geldings for Joy on Saturday.
“We bought him when he was a yearling from Robert Vance,” explains Joy. They sold Mudd Bubbles after the World Show his two-year-old year, and they liked him so much, they bought him back last year at the World Show when he was three. “We love him so much, he’s really sweet, he has a great personality, and he’s really good to show,” Joy says. “He’s gorgeous and a lot of fun, and we put 37 or 38 points on him Saturday.”
Then we met the winner of Saturday’s Aged Mares class, Biutiful, who also received four of the five Grands that day. “We raised her, and she’s by Kid Coolsified and out of Jeweled (by My Intention),” Joy explains. The strikingly tall and gorgeous 2020 bay mare sports a long, shiny, banded mane that she took into the show ring over the weekend. “This is her first show,” says Joy. “We owned her mom and it’s the only baby she had before she died when she was three-year-old. I’m not sure we’ve ever stuck her, but she’s huge. She was born in Kansas City, and she just kept growing taller and taller.”
Joy and Biutiful, aka “Abby.”
Joy says “Abby” lives at her house, which they fondly refer to as the spa, and Joy was thrilled for this win, as she’s really green. “She didn’t go to Jason’s until I think maybe the beginning of December. I absolutely love this mare, so I was thrilled she did so well.”
Joy gave her the barn name Abby because, she explains, “She was born right after a really good friend of mine told me was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I’m a breast cancer survivor, too, and she was going through a really hard time, so I named her Abby.”
She says her friend has since passed away, and the mare is really special to her.
See more candid photos from Sunday below:
