Sarah Orsak and Huntin By Moonlite Win AQHA World Amateur Horsemanship

By: Brittany Bevis

Tonight at the AQHA World Show, Sarah Orsak rode her 9-year-old gelding, Huntin By Moonlite, to win her first World Championship title. Sarah and “Elton” have been a team for five years and compete under the guidance of Reid Thomas.

“He’s a character,” Sarah says. “He’s always great to show, and he loves peppermints. If you crinkle anything, he whips around and is all over you. If we did Showmanship, it wouldn’t go very well.”

Thankfully, Sarah and Elton stick to the riding events, like Horsemanship and Western Riding, and they typically do very well. However, a slip up in last night’s Western Riding finals had Sarah reconsidering her game plan for today’s class.

“Last night did not go as planned. It’s the first time that he’s ever out-thought us. We had a lope step where there obviously wasn’t supposed to be one. So, we changed the game plan for today. It was disappointing not to be a contender in that class, but we tried to kill it today.”

For their plan of attack, Sarah focused on the parts in the pattern where she could show off Elton’s maneuvering skills. “The last time I was in Horsemanship finals here, we had an extended trot down the middle, and we loped off. That was a thought in my mind in this pattern. He’s such a pretty trotter, so I knew it could be great; we just had to go for it. I kept tapping his sides to make sure he stuck with the trot.”

“I feel like the spins normally trip me up a bit, but I talked to Reid about it last night and I thought we needed to go for it. I needed to sacrifice a little body in the spins and just go for it, and it worked well.”

When it came to the U-turn at the lope, Sarah and Reid decided to think of it as a paperclip shape. “That’s what we had in our minds. We made it a little more square so we could come around and be really tight on that. He’s really great in the counter canter, so I knew I could hold my hand there and whip around. Reid thought that was a place where we could set ourselves apart in the class.”

“During the run, it’s normally hard to keep him there. Even that morning, he swapped out behind like three times. We went for it, and he stayed with me.”

Now that Sarah and Elton have completed their final AQHA World Show performance, it’s back to Texas to compete in an early meet tomorrow morning at Texas A&M. “We’re hosting Georgia tomorrow, so we’re driving back tonight. I think I have to be back to the barn at 7 am. It’s a lot of work, but the girls on the team are amazing. There are 52 girls, and it’s such a good time. Everyone really plays their part, and it’s fun being on a team in an individual sport.”

The Reserve Champion in the class was Kaylee Mellott with Zippin A Breeze. Third was Carey Nowacek with Lethals Hot Weapon. Fourth was Parris Rice with Almost Invited. Fifth was Michelle Forness with Stretch Machine.