Solid Gold: Two Youth Win Top Honors This Summer In Open Competition
Youth Kyrah Bowker and Gunnin For Gold won the Senior Ranch Riding at the APHA World Show with a score of 239.5! Photo: Ruehle Photographix
By Delores Kuhlwein
Open classes can be daunting for amateurs and youth alike – though classes like those in the Senior and Junior division, along with open futurities, are game for anyone, riding against professionals isn’t easy. Nor is it for the faint of heart.
Two brave youth riders, however, showed their stuff on their golden horses this summer against some of the best riders and horses in the business and came out on top.
When Youth Kyrah Bowker of New Mexico entered the Senior Ranch Riding (Ranked) at the 2023 APHA World Championship Show with Gunnin For Gold, she was doing it for fun.
“I entered for fun only, just because I thought the pattern would be fun and the competition fierce!” she says.
The competition was indeed daunting on that Sunday, July 2nd, in Fort Worth, Texas, in an open Senior class of 73. When the dust settled and the results were called, Kyrah and Gunnin For Gold had won the class with a big score of 239.5!
“It was a great reminder that I should be entering every class for fun, and that when you go in there for you and your horse to enjoy each other, it can have a huge effect on everyone!” says Kyrah, a youth just starting in the 14-18 division.
She says this accomplishment was also a reminder for people to be brave enough to enter the class they want to, and never forget to have fun.
“You don’t have to be one of the huge names to still go do well!” she adds. “I have shown my whole life but I am not a big open trainer so to still win it is huge! It was an amazing feeling to go into the open pen and still do well! You never know what can happen.”
Right as the American Paint Horse Association World Championship Show was ending, another elite show was beginning in Tulsa: the Pony of Americas Club National Congress.
Youth Emma Kessler won the Rebekah Trout Memorial Hunter Under Saddle Futurity at POAC National Congress. Photo: Cody Parmenter Photography
This time, it was 15-year-old Youth Emma Kessler entering an open futurity on another golden horse as a last minute decision. The class: the Rebekah Trout Memorial Hunter Under Saddle Futurity, a futurity in memory of a special POA exhibitor. Emma explains that she’d only had a couple of rides together with Diamonds All The Rage, aka “Barry,” and they had happened at the show.
Despite what might seem to be impossible, the duo won the prestigious futurity!
“It takes a special three-year-old at his second show under saddle to go out there and give me such a special ride,” Emma says. “It was so much fun sharing the pen with all of the talented ponies, riders, and trainers.”
Barry is owned by Dr Eva Dahl and trained by Menke Performance Horses in Iowa, and Emma is under the guidance of CEO Performance Horses in Wisconsin. “I’m so thankful for Eva, Mark and Kim for giving me the opportunity to ride in this futurity,” says Emma.
Congratulations to both youth for going for it on their golden horses and displaying bravery and inspiration for others – taking a chance that paid off in a big way. As author Gina Greenlee once said, “What would happen if you gave yourself permission to do something you’ve never done before? There’s only one way to find out.”
