He’s Still Got It! 20th World Champion Title For RPL My Te Cheerful in Aged Geldings

By: Brittany Bevis

Mr. Consistency, also know as RPL My Te Cheerful, or to his friends, simply “Henry,” reached a milestone this afternoon at the AQHA Youth World Show. Monica Hamm led the 11-year-old gelding to a unanimous win in Youth Aged Geldings.

This fifth Youth World Champion title marks the 20th time RPL My Te Cheerful has been in the winner’s circle at an AQHA World Show. 16 of those titles were achieved by members of the Habighorst family in either Youth, Amateur, or Open competition.

How is this seemingly ageless, bay gelding able to stay at the top of the competition year after year? We were able to discover his secret to success… Cuties mini Mandarin oranges. Also known as a clementine, this tiny tangerine-like hybrid is Henry’s favorite sweet treat.

“I don’t know if it’s been the key element to his success… but it’s his favorite treat!” Monica says.

The Habighorst family had another young lady in the top three in this class as well. Kaylee Hamm led Boys N Toys to come in third place behind her big sister. The Reserve World Champion in the class was Ireland Cofrancesco with Vincenzo Zini.

“[Our trainer] Joe was definitely bouncing off the walls,” Monica says. “The next one, and probably the second loudest, was Grandpa!”

“It was kind of weird, because I didn’t recognize my number right away. I was paying attention to Kaylee, and I wasn’t really listening. As soon as Ireland got called and I heard a number three, I knew I didn’t get second. Hopefully, I would be first!”

Monica is 18 years old, with an August birthday, so she has one more year left of competition in the youth division. She plans to compete in Yearling Mares tomorrow, and then both Monica and Kaylee will show three different horses on Sunday. That’s two girls with six horses in three classes in one day.

“We have two 2-year-old geldings, two 3-year-old mares, and two aged mares,” she says. “We’ve luckily been blessed with many show jackets, and we’ve repurposed them over the years. There are times when I like to switch jackets. I’m not very superstitious, but if I do have a good time in a jacket, I do feel better about that jacket.”

“I’m excited about every horse for different reasons. Each horse is different in its own way. I’m excited to show Miss Kittee on Sunday, because I won with her last year.”

Aged Geldings:

1- RPL My Te Cheerful/Monica Hamm (unanimous)

2- Vincenzo Zini/Ireland Cofrancesco

3- Boys N Toys/Kaylee Hamm

4- Retrabution/Nathan Wright (13 and under winner)

5- Smorz/Paden Jarosz