Mallory Vroegh and Krymsun Belle Win First World Title at 2017 AQHA Youth World

By: Brittany Bevis

When 17-year-old Mallory Vroegh entered the Jim Norick for the Showmanship preliminaries yesterday it was clear she was on a mission. Coming off two big wins at the NSBA World and Quarter Horse Congress last year, Mallory knew she and her 6-year-old mare, “Belle,” had what it takes to claim the coveted golden globe.

It goes without saying that Showmanship is Mallory’s favorite class by far, with Horsemanship coming in a close second. “For me, it’s about how you connect with your horse, and I’ve always had a great connection with Belle. It’s made it so easy for us, because we’re so together as a team.”

Mallory and Belle have been a team for two years now, and during that time they’ve laid down stylish and precision dominated patterns, causing them to become quick crowd favorites. Heading into today’s finals, Mallory had plenty of advice from her mother and trainer, Shannon, as well as Blake and Kendra Weis. 

“It can be very stressful and emotional at times, [having your mom be your horse trainer], but it’s very rewarding, because, when I win, she wins,” Mallory says. “That’s not only good for the trainer side at that point, but it’s good because she’s my mom.”

Heading into the finals this afternoon, Mallory had a specific game plan to attack each maneuver in the pattern. “My game plan was not to forget to turn and set up! Really, for me, I knew all the pieces were there, so it was about me doing my job. The breakdowns to the walk were very important, so we schooled those several times before we went in. The square corners were big, because there were three of them.”

“We’ve been together for so long and we’ve done all the pieces of the pattern before, so there wasn’t a piece I was worried about her not doing. I knew it was possible to win, but I knew we had to be perfect. We had to do everything we were supposed to do, and we did!”

Up next, Mallory and Belle will compete in Horsemanship finals this evening. Then, they head off to the NSBA World and Quarter Horse Congress.

The Reserve World Champion was Alexandrea Albright with Best Gift Yet. Third place was Ellexxah Maxwell with Zips Bossy Chip. Fourth place was Trae Buckwalter with Standing Bar Time. Fifth was Mackenzie Doescher with Figure On Fancy. Sixth was Harley Huff with GW Jack Bar. Seventh was Deanna Green with Blazinmytroublesaway. Eighth was Elizabeth Forney with One Hot Big Leaguer. Ninth was Lexus Lemberg with Homerun Hopeful. Tenth was Cara Klyn with Zippos Gold Princess.