Brad Ost Wins First AQHA World Title in Junior Western Riding with UF A Certain Star

November 19, 2014 | Filed under: Club & Show News,Club and Show News,Featured | Posted by:

Brad Ost and UF A Certain Star

By: Brittany Bevis

Brad Ost achieved a notable milestone this afternoon at the 2014 AQHA World Championship Show. He piloted UF A Certain Star to win his first ever AQHA World Champion title in Junior Western Riding. Ost was in the saddle of “Peter,” a five-year-old gelding by Certain Potential, for owner Courtney Archer.

Peter has been in training at Highpoint Performance Horses in Pilot Point, Texas since he was three years old. Last year, Ost rode Peter to a fifth place finish in Junior Western Riding. This year, the pair won a NSBA World Champion title and then an AQHA World Champion title today.

“I had a blast!” Ost says. “It feels awesome. Honestly, it feels like I don’t even deserve it. I was in there with all of my peers that I look up to, including my bosses, and they’ve been doing this so much longer than me. I just don’t put myself in the same category, so to be up there at the top feels incredible.”

Brad Ost give owner Courtney Archer a big hug

Brad Ost give horse owner Courtney Archer a big hug during the finals of Junior Western Riding.

Like many other competitors, Ost was pleased to see that Western Riding Pattern #3 had been selected for the finals. It just so happens it’s one of his favorites.

“I really love that pattern,” Ost says. “It’s one of the more difficult ones, because you have to steer more. It benefitted me today because my horse is a five-year-old and he was maybe a little more broke than some of the four-year-olds in there. He steered really well, and I was able to show off the difficult parts of that pattern. Also, it has another lead change in it, so you can score a little bigger.”

Coming up tomorrow, Ost will be showing Simply My Goodbar in the preliminaries of the Two-Year-Old Western Pleasure. While many might think of Ost as a Trail and Western Riding specialist, he thoroughly enjoys Western Pleasure as well.

“I’ve always loved Western Pleasure, but I’ve never worked for someone who did it,” he says. “I love the two-year-olds and the young horses for Western Pleasure, but it’s just as much fun for me to take them on to do all-around events. I love Western Riding, and I love Trail. If I really did have to pick one [discipline] that I’ve loved from start to finish, to this day, it would be Western Riding.”