The Super-Selects – Getting Better with Age!

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228 – August/September, 2017

By Kristen Spinning

Smooth, mellow, yet complex and a little surprising. Like a fine wine, the more mature exhibitors among us have a lot to bring to the table. Super Selects are a diverse group of competitors whose wisdom and experience keeps them winning in the arena and vibrant in their daily lives.

Barbara Hoffer

Barbara Hoffer’s daily routine would exhaust most people half her age. She is active in breeding, training, fitting, and showing. Her 60 horses are her life, her passion. “I’m old, but it hasn’t slowed me down one bit in my horse operation.” She looks at age as a state of mind. She’ll keep showing, “so long as I can still crawl into the arena and lead a horse out there doing it.” For Barbara, there is no workout to stay fit like good, old-fashioned work. She’s so active every day that the rigors of a busy show schedule don’t cause her to break a sweat. She defiantly refuses to believe she has any age-related challenges as a Super Select exhibitor. “As long as I don’t feel it, I’m not that old,” she quips.

She praises AQHA for developing the concept of a World Championship dedicated to the over-50 crowd. “I love the Select World. I believe it’s the most equitable show experience we have. It seems to be the one large show where politics don’t play a part.” She believes people delight in going to the event because of the fair competition and because it has an atmosphere unlike any other major show. She notices her fellow exhibitors are more relaxed there. Like so many, she revels in the camaraderie and the social aspect that swirls around the Select World. She says, “I’ve been doing this for 25 years, so I know a lot of people out there. It’s always fun to see everyone.”

When it comes to giving advice to fellow Super-Select competitors, she says, “keep on keeping on.” She advocates that anyone who enjoys competition should keep reaching for success, no matter his or her age. A bad show, or even a bad year, shouldn’t keep you from trying again. “I see a lot of people come in and they get discouraged in their first couple of shows. Then they quit.” She wants to expand the inclusive nature of the Select division to ensure that everyone at every level feels that they have a place now and that they see a place for themselves, as they get older.

Click here to read the complete article
228 – August/September, 2017