EB Combs Wins Amateur Horsemanship, RPL My Te Cheerful Wins Aged Geldings, Kazakevicius Wins Amateur Hunter Under Saddle

By: Brittany Bevis

This afternoon, Elizabeth Combs rode her mother’s horse, “Stanley,” to a big win in Amateur Horsemanship, marking her first World title earned in the amateur division at the AQHA World Show. The Reserve Champion was Brittany Boyd with Don’t Skip My Charms. Third place was Lauren Love with Wearin Only Moonlite. Fourth place was Gabrielle Capron with Km Zip Me Suddenly. Fifth place was Abigail Pait with Touch Of Sudden Luck.

Sixth place was Angela Fox with The Company You Keep. Seventh place was Angela Wade with Smooth N Chocolatey. Eighth place was Christina Szabados with Invest Ina Machine. Ninth place was Kelsey Jung with Loft Loper. Tenth place was Maria Salazar with Winkin For Chocolate.

Elizabeth won Horsemanship at the Youth World during her childhood and has a Reserve World Champion finish in Amateur Horsemanship, but this is her first Amateur World Champion title. “I feel like a grown up!” she jokes. “This is my mom’s horse. I’ve been showing him a little off and on this year. I accidentally got qualified in Horsemanship when she didn’t come to Denver one weekend, so then I thought we’d go for it. That’s how I ended up here today, which is really surreal.”

Even though this afternoon’s win was a bit unexpected, Elizabeth was confident she and Stanley had all the pieces needed for a top finish. Her favorite part of today’s pattern was the large fast circle. “He’s not the biggest horse, but when he gallops, he looks like he’s 18 hands, says [my trainer] Kelly McDowall. I think he looks really beautiful moved up into that gait, and he can rock back and go slow. He looks so pretty when he gets to accelerate, so I think that made a huge difference in our large fast circle today.”

“I was pretty even keel the whole time I was practicing the pattern. Nothing ever went terribly wrong. For some reason, this pattern seemed to fit what he excels at the most.”

Elizabeth praises her trainer, Kelly McDowall, for helping to adjust her riding style to accommodate Stanley’s unique movement. “He’s changed a few things about how I’m riding,” she says. “In my previous experiences I had very different styles of horses; they were really forward and really straight. This horse will really use his hock well, so he’s helped me make that transition to be more versatile and cater to a different style of horse. That’s really hard, because there’s a lot of muscle memory you’re having to put to the wayside.”

“If I’m ever feeling a little off kilter before I go in, he says, ‘Don’t be a freak.’ That’s probably the best advice he’s given me. It helps me center, focus, and get tunnel vision.”

Just a few months ago at the Quarter Horse Congress, Elizabeth and Stanley placed sixth in Amateur Horsemanship. Here at the World Show, they also competed in Trail and returned to the Shootout round. Looking forward to next year, Elizabeth is excited to debut her new horse, VS Co Star, aka “Chip,” in Horsemanship and Trail. Chip is a three-year-old gelding by Vital Signs Are Good and out of a Blazing Hot mare. Elizabeth describes her new horse as “a beefy roan babe who loves to cuddle.”

In the Aged Geldings class, Ross Roark was at the lead of the incomparable RPL My Te Cheerful to win the class. The Reserve Champion was Ted Turner with This Big. The L2 winner was Ronnie Casper with Jbees Private Jet. The Reserve Champion was Kory Merrill with Feared.

Helping to lead World Champion “Henry” out of the pen, alongside handler Ross Roark and owner Vern Habighorst, was the gentle giant’s best friend/junior horse trainer, Miss Scarlet, the daughter of Joe Engle and Mandi Knowles.

The World Champion in Amateur Hunter Under Saddle was Rebekah Kazakevicius with Not Just Anyhoo. Recently, at the Quarter Horse Congress, Rebekah and “Horton” were named the Congress Champions in Amateur Hunter Under Saddle and 3-Year-Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle. Earlier at the World Show, Beth Case rode Horton to a unanimous finish in Junior Hunter Under Saddle.

The Reserve Champion was Peyton Bivins with Kamanyawannadance. Third place was Laura Bracken with Shez Dressed Hot. Fourth place was Rebecca Clark with SoYouThinkUCanDance. Fifth place was Shelby Ratliff with Willy Has Potential. Sixth place was Dawn Sechler with Justin Beamer. Seventh place was Taylor Kuehn with Tails N Assets. Eighth place was Lauren Rodeberg with The Fire Escape. Ninth place was Cathrin Gutmann with Boys Move Over. Tenth place was Marcie Budine with Last Minute Investment.