Lauren Love and Wearin Only Moonlite Win First AQHA World Championship in Amateur Horsemanship

By: Brittany Bevis

Lauren Love rode her 5-year-old gelding, Wearin Only Moonlite, aka “Moonshine,” to win their first World Championship title as a team in Amateur Horsemanship at the AQHA World Show this evening. They’ve won at the NSBA World Show, and most recently at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, but this was the one title that had eluded them, until now.

“We were third at the NSBA World Show this year and won the Congress,” she says. “I’ve been Reserve twice in Horsemanship here and was third last year. This has been a goal of mine as long as I can remember. This is my favorite class for sure.”

“It feels amazing. It’s almost kind of a relief when you work for something for so long.”

Lauren has competed under the guidance of Robin and Jenny Frid for the past 12 years, and she describes them as being like members of her family. “Robin has taught me to be very disciplined, and they give me a lot of confidence going into the pen. You know your horse is prepared, and you know you’re ready. I owe a lot of that to them. Robin is amazing at coaching and training the horses.”

Going into the pen this evening to compete in a pattern with, once again, only one cone, Lauren and Robin made a game plan. “I needed to hit my lines. My horse can do it all, so I had to make sure I didn’t go out there and do anything stupid! Robin had him ready tonight. His extended trot is really smooth, so I can really push him pretty hard, and he’s really athletic. It’s like driving a Lamborghini.”

Looking forward to next year, Lauren hopes to add Western Riding and possibly return to the Western Pleasure pen with Moonshine, in addition to continue working on Trail.

The Reserve Champion was Parris Rice with Wearin Only Moonlite. Third place was Michelle Forness with Stretch Machine. Fourth was Caroline Gunn Rogers with So Dang Lazy. Fifth was Brittany Boyd-Lisotta with Don’t Skip My Charms.