In addition to a full gamut of classes at the Zone 2 show—ranked as APHA’s No. 1 show by entries for the last ​several years—16 Championship classes will provide special recognition to zone exhibitors. To compete in the Championship classes, exhibitors must reside in Zone 2, which consists of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. Exhibitors also cannot have placed in the Top Five in a halter class or Top 10 in a performance class at an APHA World Championship Show in the past five years.

Cutting in Cowtown is approved for APHA World Show qualification—based only on participation, Paint Horses must compete in a minimum number of approved events/judges during the qualifying period, which is August 1, 2015–July 31, 2016. Attend both days of Cutting in Cowtown, and your Paint cutting horse will be qualified for the 2016 APHA World Show in November!

For the second year in a row, the largest growth in APHA members that show horses was the Amateur Walk-Trot division, experiencing a ​10% growth from 2014. The Open/Amateur World Championship Show entries and horses were also up over 2014 numbers.

The following 13 teams will be representing their countries and competing for international recognition at this year’s Youth World Cup: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Demark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States.