Webster and Prince Win First Two Horsemanship Titles of the Day at 2013 APHA World Show

By: Brittany Bevis

The first two Horsemanship World Champions of the day have been crowned at the 2013 APHA World Show. Stacie Webster and Chex N Checkers were named the World Champions in Novice Amateur Horsemanship with Erin Gerhardt-Valois and Lily White Sensation coming in Reserve. Rounding out the top three was Kaylyn Epperson with Endless Sensation.

Winning the Classic Amateur Horsemanship was Taylor Lynn Prince aboard One Flashy Sensation. The Reserve Champion and Intermediate winner was Barbara Ann Fletcher with Undeefleeted. Third place was Christine Weiser with Nighttime Sensation.

This is Prince’s fifth World Championship title in horsemanship, but it is her first as an amateur competitor.

“This is my second year showing as an amateur,” Prince says. “I like it a lot more, to be honest. It’s not as catty, and it’s a lot more fun. There’s less of the drama. I like it a lot.”

Last night, Prince rode One Flashy Sensation to a close Reserve Championship finish in Classic Amateur Western Riding behind Tami Dietrich-Dobbs with Seems Like Heaven. Later in the week, the pair will compete in Classic Amateur Trail and Western Pleasure. Her trainer, Sara Simons, will show Prince’s mare in Senior Western Riding and Senior Trail.

A trend that has been seen thus far at this APHA World Show is the inclusion of more complicated patterns than in year’s past. We asked Prince her opinion about the increase in level of difficulty with a finals pattern that included multiple speed changes, numerous turns, and complex maneuvering.

“I like them actually,” she says. “I thought this was a fun pattern. There was a run, so you got to have a little more difficulty in it. It wasn’t your average pattern. I liked it.”

Prince is currently a Senior at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She is majoring in Fashion Merchandising and is looking forward to pursuing a career in that field after graduation.

“I have a couple of opportunities that I’m going to try out in Boston,” she says. “My boyfriend lives there. He came [to the World Show] last year. He’s not a horse person. He’s a little New England boy. He doesn’t know anything about it, but he’s into it. His whole family came too [this year], so it was fun.”

Classic Amateur Horsemanship-

1-Taylor Prince/One Flashy Sensation

2-Undeefleeted/Barbara Ann Fletcher

3-Nighttime Sensation/Christine Weiser

4-A Sudden Legacy/Desarae Gilley

5-Heza Texas Hobo/Ashley Wildes

6-Justa Roan Ranger/Michelle Bauer

7-Friends With Benefits/Ali Eidson

8-Jza Lil Leaguer/Tristin Chastain

9-Talkabout A Roadster/Lindsay McLain

10-Seems Like Heaven/Tami Dietrich-Dobbs

Intermediate–

1-Undeefleeted/Barbara Ann Fletcher

2-Jza Lil Leaguer/Tristin Chastain

3-Talkabout A Roadster/Lindsay McLain

4-A Subtle Impulse/Jennifer Humphries

5-Electric Sensation/Jerri Lynn Brown

Novice Amateur Horsemanship-

1-Chex N Checkers/Stacie Webster

2-Lily White Sensation/Erin Gerhardt-Valois

3-Endless Sensation/Kaylyn Epperson

4-Chansation/Dianne Rouse

5-Don’t Try This At Home/Taunya Momberger

6-Arapped In Black/Jeri-Lou Biggs

7-Who Painted Me/Kimberley Love

8-Could B Sensational/Tammy Azevedo

9-Whata Vested Asset/Michelle Johnston

10-Fool of Irony/Cyndi Conley