Castle, Lewis, Searles, Hamm, and Shepard Win Titles at AQHA Youth World
Solars Dream
By: Brittany Bevis
Today’s classes have been entirely devoted to Halter here at the 2019 AQHA Youth World Show.
First, Cash Castle led Solars Dream to win Yearling Mares. The Reserve Champion was Kaylee Hamm with CF Sparkle N Suede. Third was Colton Smith with Sheza Premadonna. Fourth was Nathan Wright with TNR Cali Cool. Fifth was Lexi Tan with Valyria.
Cash’s filly is a homebred by Solaris and out of a I Gotta Cool Secret daughter. At one time, the Castle family owned both the stallion and dam. “When she got to the show barn, we looked at her and really liked her,” Cash says. “We thought this could be something good. I really liked her legs. Having one with good, sound legs is what does it for me. Today, they said the judges were looking at her hocks and butt a lot. She’s got it all.”
The Lewis family
Grant Lewis was the winner of Yearling Geldings with Fahrneit. The Reserve Champion was Ellexxah Maxwell with Premos Instyle. Third was Claire Carroll with So So Secretive. Fourth was Hanna Hussey with Acool Affection. Fifth was Aubrey Neibrugge with A Living Legend.
Trent Searles was the winner in 2-Year-Old Mares with Shes That Radiant. Reserve was Katherine West with Apleezing. Third was Kaylee Hamm with Pretty Charming. Fourth was Trent Parker with Cinderella Style. Fifth was Erin Wright with TNR Aleagueofherown.
Trent is the returning champion with “Kate” from last year’s Youth World Show. The filly by He’s All That has grown up some over the past year, but she’s still the same sweet mare Trent fell in love with shortly after he started showing Halter horses in 2015.
The Searles family
“She’s really smart, and she understands things,” Trent says. “She’s the sweetest horse. All she does is sleep and eat. She was lying down sleeping before we got ready today.”
When Trent isn’t in the show pen, he can be found on the golf course, where he shoots in the low 80s.
Kaylee Hamm and Misster E Maximum won 2-Year-Old Geldings. Reserve was Layne Rivers with Elio. Third was Lauren Gralla with Bad An Boujee. Fourth was Secret Gunslinger with Seth Craft.
“Max” is out of the Habighorst family’s show mare, Miss Kittee, who Kaylee has shown to many a Youth World title. “As a yearling, he didn’t quite fill out and was a little slower, so we waited on him. A couple months went by and he filled out, and we got a little champion on our hands. He has overall balance, great legs, and great muscles. No matter how you set him up, he’s going to show great. He does have a quirky attitude. He can be a stinker, to be honest.”
Kaylee Hamm
Kaylee Hamm then led Partee Down Kid to win 3-Year-Old Mares. Reserve was Audrey Cole with Miss Lady Elusive. Third was McKenna Gibson with Cool Litl Doll. Fourth was Colton Stewart with Gotta Classy Lady. Fifth was Layne Rivers with Existingsecretfinale.
“Dolly” is a recent addition to the Habighorst family. “We’ve only had her for a couple of months. She’s pretty quiet, but she did give me a little run for my money out there today, because she was excited. But, that’s to be expected.”
In addition to her two golden trophies, Kaylee led CF Blindingly Cool to place third in Aged Mares yesterday and CF Sparkle N Suede to a Reserve finish in Yearling Mares. In 2-Year-Old Mares, she placed third with Pretty Charming. That makes a whopping five trophies in five classes for Kaylee here at her final Youth World Show. “We went out with a bang.”
RJ Shepard III
The winner of 3-Year-Old Geldings was RJ Shepard III with Hes The Package. Reserve was Trace Toteff with California Cool. Third was Millie Landon with Amazing Vaquero.
The Shepard family purchased the gelding in February of this year from Wayne Bell. RJ explains that he’s had his eye on the horse for some time.
“If it wasn’t for Mr. Ross Roark and Mr. Wayne Bell, we wouldn’t have been able to purchase him. The community behind this horse is amazing. Two years ago, we went to the Select World, and we saw him. We fell in love with him from day one. We called Wayne to see if he was for sale. Wayne said that if he was for me, then he would be for sale.”
RJ thinks “Arthur’s” best qualities are his personality and conformation. “I love how his hip is set. His croup is amazing and everything is really proportional. His wither set is amazing and level.”
Scroll below for more great photos from around the rings at Halter classes today.
