“These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…” NSBA World Show Edition

EC Blog by: Keaton Crawford

The National Snaffle Bit Association World Championship Show was one of the most unique and exciting horse shows of the year. Filled with a multitude of different classes, new memories, and many newly crowned World Champions, this year’s NSBA World Show saw a total of 4,180 entries (up from 3,590 from 2014), which meant 20% growth and an estimated $30.8 million impact on the Tulsa area, per NSBA.

Hillary Roberts says the NSBA World is her favorite horse show of the year, because she gets to see a lot of people that she doesn’t get to see at other horse shows in different parts of the country. Hillary also enjoys competing in a lot of different, fun classes that she doesn’t normally get to show in, like the Color Horse classes, something she only gets to do at the NSBA World. Anthony Montes says the NSBA World is so growing so much that it’s quickly turning into the “Congress of the South.” Tonya Brown and Samantha Ihde agree that the NSBA World is one of the best horse shows to come to for all of the great prizes.

Despite the excitement of the normal horse show festivities, the NSBA World show is also one of the most heartwarming with speciality classes that honor equestrians with disabilities and members of our military. Myles McLean-Foss says his favorite part about the show was the tribute to the men and women who served in our military. He gives a huge shout out to the NSBA for putting on such a cool event to honor those men and women that serve this great nation. He says he got chills while watching the class and that the Cowboy Courage event was by far his favorite of the horse show. Juliana Blackburn-Baskin loves that NSBA put on these classes in order to give our veterans a chance to win a World Championship and receive the recognition they deserve.

Kelsey Jung likes that NSBA puts together classes at the World Show for people who wouldn’t normally be able to compete at this level otherwise. She loved watching the EWD (Equestrians With Disabilities) classes and seeing how moved the riders were to receive any kind of award. Kelsey saw the family of one rider get so emotional over receiving fourth place in a class. She says the camaraderie at this horse show is like none other.

No matter your reasons for loving the NSBA World, it’s clear that equestrians from all over the United States are returning year after year and loving it even more. The NSBA does an incredible job of giving everyone the opportunity to compete and to make memories that will last a lifetime. There is no doubt that this horse show will continue to grow in the coming years because of the amazing job that NSBA does with making this show one of the most unique and memorable shows of the year for everyone. Until next year; congratulations to this year’s big winners!