Barrel Full of Laughs at 2015 Mid Summer Fling!
By: Brittany Bevis
Musical Buckets, Dizzy Stick Races, and Twister aren’t the typical classes you’d expect to see on a horse show schedule, but then again, the Mid Summer Fling is far from typical…
AQHA competitors gathered in sunny DuQuoin, Illinois, June 13-16. Judges for the show were Stephanie Lynn, Tyler Crouse, Kelly Chapman, and Rebecca Halvorson. This year, the show certainly lived up to its slogan of “where food, fun, and parties are plentiful!” by providing entertaining games for competitors.
The agility, speed, and coordination of exhibitors in Senior Western Pleasure was tested during the Dizzy Stick Race. After removing their boots and placing them in a pile at the end of the arena, each rider had to jump rope five times, hula hoop five times, and spin around a baseball bat five times. Then, the race was on to find their boots! The competition resulted in a tie between Alex Miller, assistant for Jeff Greaves, and Joanie Lebel, assistant for Terry Cross. Each pair was rewarded with Ray Ban sunglasses for their impressive performances!
Horse show Twister!
Competitors in Amateur Horsemanship and Select Horsemanship played a fast-paced version of musical buckets, (the horse show version of musical chairs). In the end, only one amateur and one select competitor were left. The winner was Libby Graber, who won a smart watch. During one of the youth classes, Peyton Crenwelge and Bailey Anderson battled it out during a topsy turvy game of Twister for the coveted prize of a Bluetooth Easy Play.
When they needed a break from all the fun and games, competitors were treated to tasty treats from The Sweet Shop in addition to a breakfast of Bloody Marys and Mimosas and an afternoon party where the Moscow Mule was the drink of choice.
The silliness continues…
When it came time for the actual equine competition, the largest class sizes of the show were seen in all-around disciplines such as 31 in L1 Trail, 20 in Performance Halter Geldings, and 15 in Amateur Showmanship. Check out some of the largest class sizes of the show.
- L1 Western Riding- 12
- Youth Hunter Under Saddle- 13
- 14-18 Showmanship- 14
- Amateur Performance Halter Geldings- 15
- Amateur Showmanship- 15
- 14-18 Horsemanship- 15
- L2 Senior Trail- 15
- L3 Senior Trail- 16
- Junior Trail- 16
- Performance Halter Geldings- 20
- Youth Trail- 20
- L1 Trail- 31
In addition to $2,500 NSBA Jr. Green Trail and $2,500 NSBA Sr. Green Trail, there was an additional $8,000 offered in a variety of other NSBA futurities.
Although the Mid Summer Fling has concluded, the fun’s not over yet! The IKI Summer Spectacular begins today in DuQuoin and will continue through June 21st.
(Results courtesy of Mark Harrell Horse Shows.)
Click here to view S/C 1 results.
Click here to view S/C 2 results.
Click here for circuit awards.
High Point:
Youth Walk-Trot Champion – Denying Your Asset/Mary Caitlyn O’Malley, Reserve – Zip Me Plenty Good/Payton Vorreyer
Small Fry Champion – Snazzy Lil Chip/Briley Czerwinski, Reserve – Slightly Dreamin/Casey McMurray
Novice Amateur Champion – Best Of Hocus/Whitney Murin (Leather Briefcase), Reserve – RU Radical/Michelle Speck (wine box and wine)
Amateur Champion – Absolute Best Asset/Taylor Brown (Custom Spurs from Blue Ribbon), Reserve – PF Shy Guy/Carly Epp (Gift Certificate to Blue Ribbon)
Select Champion – Achipofftheoldgold. Kelleigh DeMonbrun (Leather briefcase), Reserve – Blazing Illusions/Brooke Delany (Wine box and wine)
Novice Youth Champion – Zip Back N Yak/Peyton Crenwelge, Reserve – Too Hot To Frisk/Cameron Crenwelge
13 & under Champion – Huntin A Hot Babe/Jordan Davis, Reserve – Zip Back N Yak/Peyton Crenwelge
14-18 Champion – Zippos Kat Man Do/Bailey Anderson (Laptop)
Reserve – There Goes My Zipper/Abbi Demel (Gift Certificate to Blue Ribbon)
Open Champion – Suddenly Im Cool – (Beau Baird owner) (Custom chaps from Berry Fit), Reserve –Ona Hot Summer Night – (Suzi Luckett owner) (Blue Ribbon Gift Certificate)
