Calley Huston and Colossal Asset Win 2017 AQHA Youth World Equitation

By: Brittany Bevis

For Calley Huston and Colossal Asset, the stakes were very high for the Equitation finals this evening at the 2017 AQHA Youth World Show. Because Calley is 19, this was her final class at her final Youth World Show. For Colossal Asset, aka “Bonji,” this was her final performance in the show pen before retirement.

“I will definitely remember this one,” Calley says. “This means so much to me, because this is my last Youth World, and I’m planning on retiring her after this. She’s thirteen years old, and I really want to have babies out of her. She’s a forever- homed horse. I will never sell her. It changes all the time, but I’m thinking I would like to breed her to Lazy Loper and Blazing Hot.”

Calley had two teams of trainers helping guide her through her final Youth World Show class: her longtime trainer, Buddy Laney, with an assist from John and Jill Briggs. “Surprisingly, Buddy is a very good English rider. You would be shocked! He knows what he’s talking about.”

Calley and Bonji have been a team for six years now, and during that time they’ve won a Congress Championship in Hunter Under Saddle and a NSBA World Championship in Equitation, but this is their first Youth World win.

“Bonji is a special horse, because the person who owned her before was like my older sister. We were at the Florida Gold Coast and Bonji was with Brent Tincher. I was very young at the time, but I remember her owner, Allie Kasten, was in a  horrible scar accident and she passed away. So the fact that I got her later on was insane.”

During this finals pattern, Calley focused on forward motion, especially with the extended canter and counter canter sections. But the part she was most nervous for was the rail work. “She’s got a super strong stride, so it’s unbelievably hard to ride on the rail in an English saddle. I’m always nervous, because I know the judges see that. Honestly, it’s the most hard thing I’ve ever done.”

“This was a pattern where you needed to go forward. I was really nervous. I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous before a class. Before I went in, I was tearing up. I don’t think I’ve ever been this emotional before. It was my last class as a youth and the last time she will ever been in the show pen.”

Hunt Seat Equitation-

1- Colossal Asset/Calley Huston
2- Immortalised/Laska Anderson
3- Too Lazy To Zip/Lauren Carnahan
4- Zips Bossy Chip/Ellexxah Maxwell
5- Al Be Sweet On You/Taylor Searles
6- BMQ Stop For Traffic/Nya Kearns
7- Tell A Good Tail/Nicole Campbell
8- You Bet I’m Somethin/Sydney Hoffa
9- PS Surprise Card/Lauren Thoma
10- Lethals Hot Weapon/Lauren Thune
13 and Under winner- Blazing Hot and Gold/Alexia Tordoff