Sun Circuit’s Move to March a Resounding Success With 21,479 Entries

By: Kristen Spinning

One word summarizes the 2017 Arizona Sun Country Circuit: More.

The show had more entries than ever in its 44-year history with nearly 18,500 AQHA class entries and 21,479 over all entries. More classes, more horses, more sunshine, more arenas, and more prizes resulted in more points, more smiles, and more happy exhibitors. Once again, Arizona Quarter Horse Association has managed to take a wildly successful show and make it even better. The quality of the competition was outstanding, and the atmosphere exuded fun.

The show enjoyed the kind of March weather the City of Scottsdale brags about in glossy magazine ads with picture perfect blue skies and technicolor sunsets.  The continued expansion of the outstanding West World Equestrian complex offered new venues for exhibitors. Sun Circuit used two brand new, climate controlled arenas in the North Hall of the Equidome. An adjacent warm up pen was very convenient and made the perfect staging area. Exhibitors, judges, and staff alike loved the North Hall. AzQHA CEO Doug Huls was very excited about the additional facilities and was already looking toward the future, commenting, “between the North Hall and the main Equidome, we will be able to offer most all of our classes indoors at the AZ Fall Championship this September.”

An astonishing amount of prizes, awards, and giveaways were distributed across all levels. A total of 36 saddles were awarded, including Reining, Roping, Cow Horse, Trail, Western Pleasure, All Around, and Versatility Ranch Horse. L1 Champions received custom designed rings from Sami Fine Jewelry and other awards included Air Ride Pads, trophies, embroidered sheets, Rod Patrick Ostrich boots, gift certificates and trophies. Over $55,000 in added money was on the line as well across a number of classes from Roping and Cow Horse to Jumping and Western Pleasure.

Sun Circuit offered a full slate of Versatility Ranch Horse classes during the first weekend for both AQHA and all breeds. The classes enjoyed very enthusiastic participation with large numbers, especially among amateurs. A Scottsdale Performance Saddle, sponsored by Cre8ive Event Rentals, was awarded to the All Breed Amateur Champion Sarah McKibben and Chex Are Cashin. Ranch Riding and Ranch on the Rail classes also demonstrated their continued popularity with extremely large class numbers. As many as 59 amateurs and 55 open entries worked the pattern.

Sun Circuit also featured a NSBA Futurity Day with four Hunter Under Saddle and four Western Pleasure futurities. It was a tightly matched field in the 3 & 4 Year Old $1,000 Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure class. After lengthy scrutiny, the judges’ placing put How About Later with David Archer riding for Ryan and Andrea Kail tied for 1st with Mouse N Around, owned by Tommie Prichard and shown by Angie Cannizzaro. Both winners added $4,260 to their NSBA winnings tally. Made In The Shade, owned by Natasha Blanchard, showed consistency taking top honors in both the 3 & 4 Year Old Limited Non Pro and the 3-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure. The non-pro ride earned $2,882 while the open class paid $624.

Ms Aloha earned $1,026 in the 3 & 4-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle with Deanna Searles aboard. The 3 & Over $2,500 Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle saw another tie. Stealing The Prise showed poised perfection for Brittany Andrews and owner Sara Jackson while Alyse Roberts highlighted Me Myself And Sky’s fluid strides for owner Jennifer Goss. These two fine horses each earned $1,750 for the day.

The Over Fence classes saw increased numbers as well, partly due to the addition of the Hunter Derby. The Open Derby had $2,000 added, along with a 65% jackpot, which lured a fine field. The non-pros were vying for a BEVAL Solaris Saddle sponsored by Greenway Saddlery.

It didn’t take added money to add entries to Trail, Western Riding, and Western Pleasure. There were simply a lot of horses primed to ride. Junior Trail saw 74 patterns and Senior Trail had a mind boggling 115 horses navigate the poles. Another 64 select exhibitors, and 42 amateurs kept the trail pens busy every day. Youth classes on the final four days were impressively large as well with the largest numbers seen in Trail, Showmanship, and Horsemanship. Reiners enjoyed being in the North Hall, especially with the number of entries to be seen each day. Senior boasted 82 runs, and 65 Junior horses were on pattern during the second show of the circuit.

The Smart Boons Fence Challenge is always a crowd-pleasing spectacle of equine athleticism, and it certainly didn’t disappoint the fans this year. Smart Boons owners, Eric and Wendy Dunn, added $20,000 to the pot, which was chased by 18 exceptional horses and riders. The energy of the event was contagious as the crowd whooped and hollered with each turn of the cow. After two rank cows were waved off, Jake Cruzan and his agile grey horse PG Reylena showed they could remain focused. The pair found that three times a charm and finally got to show their best steer stomping moves for a high score of 149. Jake earned a $6,800 payday. Shadd Parkinson also had a dominating performance on Dan and Toni Heath’s horse, Smart Peppy Doc Doll. Their score of 148 slid them into second place and a check for $5,040.

Ropers had numerous ways to catch some cash at Sun Circuit. In addition to Jack Pots, Cinch Jeans ponied up a total of $7,500 split between Open and Non Pro heading and Heeling classes in their Timed Event Challenge. On the heading side, Andy Holcomb rode Joann Chex to the top in the open and won $1,587. Layton Oswald put together the best times for the first hole in the non-pro and a $1,587 check. Non Pro Garrett Hershberger proved he has a bright future by winning the heeling and $1,687. On the Open Heeling, it was Zan Bruce aboard Smooth Count Dracula winning the top spot. The really big money came out in the $15,000 added DT Horses Roping Futurity. The Equidome was electric in the final round with cowboys trying to shave tenths off their times. When the final flag dropped, Dustin Rogers riding DT Scotch Man, owned by Armenta Quarter Horses, bested the field of headers to take the Championship and $5,120. On the heeling side, it was Winamillion with Andy Holcomb aboard riding for Karen Holcomb who out-roped the pack. Their efforts won $5,920. Both champions were also awarded a Bob’s Saddle.

Exhibitors didn’t always have to place first in a class to be a winner, though. Over $50,000 in giveaways kept the fun and excitement going from the first day to the very last class. AzQHA President Michele Pearson, AZQHA Executive Board member Dale Litton, and their Prize Patrol relentlessly scoured the West World grounds ensuring that everyone, at every level and discipline, had a shot at winning something, and those prizes were substantial. It was wonderful to see a person who may have placed 5^th in a class stride out grinning ear-to-ear because they had just won a $500 gift certificate. The bounty included a 50” TV every single day, iPads, Beats headphones, Bose speakers, $100 gift certificates from Eddie Merlot’s, Rod Patrick Boots, $1,000 Shorty’s hats, a $1,000 Watsons hat, gift certificates from D Designs, Showtime, Show Me Again, Sami’s Jewelry, Barbara’s Custom Hats, along with products from The Glassy Lady, Finish Line, ExcelEQ, Just Peachy, Pro Choice, Nutrena, and South Texas Tack.  These giveaways came in many forms. Know the Word of the Day? Find the Prize Patrol and you could take home a new cinch or bucket of supplements. Good at trivia? You could win a $500 gift certificate from one of the many show vendors. Prizes were also bestowed on random back number draws, or tough luck exhibitor awards.

The most talked about giveaways involved fun and often rowdy challenges that tested skills exhibitors didn’t even know they possessed. The Hunter Jumper folks competed in the Mimosa Morning Challenge where they had to take a low fence while holding a flute of champagne and OJ. Western Pleasure and Equitation riders battled it out in Wine Races by taking a lap in the arena as fast as they could while holding their liquor. Hilarity ensued when a herd of kids’ bouncy horses were added to the arenas. Equitation, Cow Horse, and youth exhibitors all had a shot racing the hoppities. However, it was laughably obvious that none of them could transfer their Horsemanship skills to this new discipline. It’s truly amazing what people will do for a huge flat screen.

Everyone was expecting some type of show stopping challenge in the Senior Western Pleasure after last year’s horse race, but no one expected they would have to race backwards for this year’s $1,000 Shorty’s hat prize. In a display of dyslexic, contortionist riding, the professionals made their way around the arena. Cleve Wells finally found a steady and straight stride to cross the finish line first for the win.

It just wouldn’t be Sun Circuit without some great parties. Lunch was served ringside three days at the Equine Chronicle Arena for 400-500 people. Sandra Morgan and her stallion Mechanic started the parties off on Monday with great food and live entertainment by country singer Chris Manning. The Machine Made Lunch Party, thrown by Candace Hall and Corey Seebach, was another big hit. AQHA stallions, Indefinite and Definitely All That, and the 7 Bar Ranch wrapped up the fun with the final lunch party.

Sun Circuit proved that moving to March would not dissuade exhibitors. The word heard round the rings was how happy everyone was with the move to March and how much fun they were having. The remarkable growth combined with the ease of showing ensures it will remain one of those shows that everyone plans their schedule around… no matter where it lands on the calendar.