Sabrina Janis Wins First World Title With Cruize in Amateur Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

Sabrina Janis was surprised and elated when she discovered that she was the newest World Champion this morning in Amateur Trail with Cruize. Sabrina and “Speedy” have numerous Congress Championship titles and NSBA World titles to their credit, include a 2018 Congress win in 15-18 Trail and a 2020 NSBA win in Amateur Trail, but this is their first AQHA World Championship.

“This is unreal to me,” she says. “I can’t even tell you what it feels like. Insane. The stuff of dreams. Speedy is the most insanely talented horse I’ve ever had the privilege of showing in Trail. He has so much try and is so athletic and patient and willing to do his job.”

Sabrina and Speedy have been a team for two and a half years under the guidance of Judd and Jennifer Paul, who love competing in Trail about as much as their young client.

“They’ve definitely helped me gain so much confidence, and they’ve shown me how to be a confident competitor and someone who knows the horse that’s underneath them before they go in the pen. They’ve definitely shown me great methods for training, how to keep my edge, take care of my horse, and push myself to that next level so I can be competitive and win things like this!”

In today’s pattern, Sabrina was especially pleased with Speedy’s performance in the more technical elements. “I feel like this pattern was definitely designed to see your strengths and weaknesses. There were a ton of technical elements, and you had to be selective in picking your spots. I feel like we really excelled in the first obstacle, which was a great walk-over. The poles were raised and there were so many of them, so I was proud of that. He picked his feet up and paid attention. Then, I loved my pace and felt like I navigated really well through the diagonal lope-overs.”

“I thought our bridge and walk-overs were great and the long lope line I was really proud of. Towards the end of the pattern, I was really proud of our sidepass. He stayed together and made it a very fluid maneuver. I was very happy and proud.”

Reserve was Hayley Kittler with A Very Simple Dream. Third was Kelsey Jung with Moonlite Cruiser. Fourth was Libby Rinder with Hot Rockin Potential. Fifth was Melissa Wahrmund with Krymsun Kryptonite.