Paulina Martz, Cooper Dobbs, and Caroline Fromm Take Home First Globes at 2017 AQHA Youth World

By: Brittany Bevis

Paulina Martz started the 2017 AQHA Youth World on the right note by claiming her third World Championship title in a row with Onlythebestchocolate, aka “Hershey,” in Performance Halter Mares. This is the fourth career title in the class for Paulina and the 10-year-old mare.

Many horses (and competitors) may find it challenging to stand at attention in a large Halter class for hours on end; but, for Hershey, it’s old hat. Still, Paulina has a few tricks she uses to keep her mare engaged and focused.

“She has the program down now,” she says. “Once I get her set up, she doesn’t move. You know, it’s something different every time [to keep her attention]. Today, she was really excited that a bird flew into the arena, and that kept her happy for a while. I give her lots of peppermints. I usually have seven with me in the show pen, and then she also likes the wrapper, so you get to milk that for a while.”

Hershey qualifies for Performance Halter because she also competes in Western Pleasure, although Paulina won’t be showing in the class here at the Youth World. Hershey is also learning how to navigate Trail obstacles under the guidance of trainers Judd and Jennifer Paul. While the Paul’s may be more all-around focused, Paulina says Judd is all business when it comes to showing in Halter.

“He goes straight into Halter mode! He’s always there teaching me exactly where her feet should go so she looks her best. I’m always putting them a little too far back so she looks scrunched up. Also, we focus a lot on keeping her head up so her neck looks longer.”

“She has a gorgeous face, and she’s really pretty, but besides that she’s really well built. She has a gorgeous coat and really pretty dapples. You can tell she’s a working horse and doesn’t just stand around all day.”

The Reserve Champion in Performance Halter Mares was Savannah Hauer with Natural Order. Third was Erin Mask with Only Classic Chips. Fourth was Madison Maciejewski with Formal I Will Be. Fifth was Lexus Lemberg with Homerun Hopeful. Sixth was Alexis Winemiller with Good Miss Cadillac. Seventh was Christina Salakas with Bettin Im Best. Eighth was Taylor Leone with Sleepin In On Sunday. Ninth was Catherine Tata with Surely Im Invited. Tenth was Mallory Vroegh with Krymsun Belle. Eleventh was Sidney More with Suddenlee Single.

In Performance Halter Geldings, we saw another returning World Champion. This time, Cooper Dobbs and Mytsely won their second World Championship title in a row. This is Cooper’s fourth career World Championship; he won two titles with his previous horse, Jbees Private Jet.

Today’s class lasted 2 1/2 hours, due to the whopping 50 entries that had to file in and be judged. To keep “Sly” focused on his cues, Cooper used a variety of small treats. “First, I gave him little Tic-Tacs. They’re tropical flavored. It’s what Ted [Turner] gave me! Then, I had a candy wrapper. I also had to break out my comb. I ran through all my tricks.”

“He was a little feisty today. He had his calm times, but then he would be antsy and want to eat something, like my arm! I had to give him something to do to entertain himself.”

When Cooper isn’t leading Sly, he can be found on the gridiron where he plays receiver and corner for his local Valley View football team. Although he’s active in several sports and in school, Cooper doesn’t find it hard to keep everything balanced. “It just depends on which is more important to you. You have to decide. Horses more than likely win!”

The Reserve Champion in the class was Allie Tamulewicz with Summer Hotrod. Third place and also the L2 Champion was Aubrey Alderman with I Can’t Sleep. Fourth place and the L2 Reserve Champion was Brooke Jolstad with Betta Believe it. Fifth place was Madison Taylor with This Hot Invitation. Sixth was Autumn Hart with Only A Natural. Seventh was Nya Kearns with Red Code Review. Eighth was Gabriella Pennau with Good Lookin In Blue. Ninth was Cora Wyers with Good N Certain. Tenth was Laska Anderson with Immortalised.

Finally, Caroline Fromm led PF Chrome Rimz to win Aged Geldings. The Reserve Champion was Margaret Carter with Coos Me In The Dark. Third was Eli Ronk with Ima Cool Catch. Fourth was Katie Leonarski with Vincenzo Zini. Fifth was Paden Jarosz with Smorz. Sixth was Jordan Reichert with Vendicated. Seventh was Erin Wright with Retrabution. Eighth was Melanie Heinz with FG El Vis. Ninth was Averie Vidrine with Awesome Sirprize. Tenth was Trace Toteff with Cool Package.