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NPHA - A Pleasurable Celebration!

Published on Friday, June 1, 2012 in Sponsored Shows
Winner of the Jayes Park $20,000 Two Year Old Western Pleasure Futurity, Gracefull Prophecy, was showered in pats by all her connections
RQH Who's Ur Daddy and Kristy Mobberley won the Horsezone $1,000 Senior Horse Hunter Under Saddle Stakes
Plaited hunter horses
A bling bridle - photo does not do it justice - this bridle glittered with every stride!
Reserve Champion in the Western World Saddlery $1,000 Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle - Tiger on the Loose - is for sale!

Ashley Vandenbogert and her lovely horse, Cee the Sensation, had plenty of success at NPHA - winning Hunter and Western Pleasure classes. We loved Ashley's top, which once again the photo doesn't do justice to!

Amateur competitors, Yasmin Lee-Steere and Kim Wearn's show tops were a feast for the eyes, encrusted with gems and full of sparkle

(view photo gallery for more stunning tops)
 

The dust has settled on the most prestigious western show of the year and except for a few stray crystals from the gorgeous show tops and the echo of announcer Ralph Dunn's voice, little remains at SIEC to mark the presence of the many glamorous horses that competed at the NPHA Pleasure Celebration 2012.

As always the NPHA was a feast for the eyes of any western performance fan, with top quality horses across all divisions, which were a pleasure to watch. The hunters were a delight with geldings RQH Who's Ur Daddy and One Hot Crystal (such a stunning trot) being stand out performers, who won all their classes.

Horsezone sponsored the $1,000 Senior Horse Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, which was won by RQH Who's Ur Daddy (aka Spider) ridden by Kristy Mobberley. Horsezone's Managing Director, Mark Webster, and I presented the award to Kristy who didn't have enough hands to hold all her loot. Spider is a gentle giant and was so relaxed he really wasn't at all interested in putting his ears forward for the official photo. Congratulations to Kristy and Spider's owner, Lyndall Dauth, on their many wins, which also included the Vet-N-Pet Direct $4,000 Senior Horse Western Pleasure Stakes - what a versatile horse!

It was great to see Mark Webster's lovely two year old hunter, Tiger On The Loose, place second with Kane Skopp in the saddle - behind Holly Johnson on Blazing Hot Rhythm - in the Western World Saddlery $1,000 Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle. This gorgeous gelding by Invited Tiger excels at hunter and has proven his huge talent by winning the Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle at Q12 and at the NSW State Quarter Horse Show. This talented youngster is now for sale on Horsezone. Check out Tiger On The Loose's listing on Horsezone.

On the pleasure front, the Jayes Park $20,000 Two Year Old Western Pleasure Futurity final, successfully showcased 10 top two year olds. The winner, Gracefull Prophecy, was expertly ridden by Holly Johnson. Holly then 'did the double' by backing up Saturday night's win by placing first - under all three judges - on the gorgeous imported stallion, Smoochin in the Di Candilo $10,000 Western Pleasure Futurity. This class featured a field of lovely horses, however, Smoochin and Holly's run was simply poetry in motion. On the topic of Holly Johnson, what can I say? Such a lovely rider and dedicated trainer and her successes at NPHA, amongst many other talented trainers, certainly highlighted her skill.

For western fans who want to know the ins and outs of all the results, wonderful announcer Ralph Dunn published all placings after each class on his facebook page, however, if you're not a 'friend' of Ralph's, the results will be published on the NPHA website soon.

In addition to being very impressed by all the fabulous horses, here's a summary of what we thought about NPHA 2012...

What's hot?

  • The Two Year Old and Three Year Old Western Pleasure Futurities - there was a huge crowd for the two year old class especially - unusual for western pleasure, which is not considered a spectator sport!
  • Exquisite bling tops - these have been popular for a while now but they just seem to keep getting more gem encrusted - with several tops featuring pearls and even fluffy feathers!
  • Bling on bridles - silver is so yesterday, now not only the tops are sparkling, the bridles are all-a-glitter too.
  • Seeing the placings for each of the three judges in the big classes - an instant lesson on how horse showing is very much personal opinion - the winner was often the same (but sometimes not), however, other placings varied greatly depending on what that particular judge was looking for.
  • Immaculate plaits on hunter horses instead of banded manes.
  • Super thick tails - this trend does not look like losing its popularity any time soon and why should it? Lustrous tails suit luxury horses.
  • Competitors patting their horses enthusiastically after winning classes - particularly Holly Johnson and Natasha Humphries, who were first and second in the Jayes Park $20,000 Two Year Old Western Pleasure Futurity. Great to see these trainers rewarding their beautiful horses.
  • Sharing horses - there were several top horses that were ridden not only by trainers but also by their owners. One lovely horse in particular, A Tall Dark Gal, was shared between Senior Youth, Cassie Young, and Junior Youth, Tayla Mathrick - a super idea for utilising a great horse and sharing costs.
  • 1992 gelding, Flashy Zipper, retiring after his last class (with 2102 AQHA points) and acting more like a two year old than an almost 20 year old, when the crowd cheered!
  • The calcutta for the Jayes Park $20,000 Two Year Old Western Pleasure Futurity - several horses went for $300 and upwards with the eventual winners of the class, Holly Johnson and Gracefull Prophecy, making $650!
  • Limited Amateur (competitors to not exceed a certain number of points), Select Amateur (competitors to be 50 years of age and over), Amateur and Senior Youth classes - these were all very well attended and featured many gorgeous horses and outfits.
  • The lovely garlands and bronze horse statues presented to the bigger class winners.
  • Ralph Dunn's announcing and Facebook posts - every western fan in the country who wasn't at NPHA, was glued to their computers for Ralph's results from the big futurities.
  • Golf buggies! SIEC was literally abuzz with them during NPHA.
  • Hot chocolate for warming hands and bellies!

What's not?

  • Fireworks somewhere in the vicinity of SIEC cranking up, just as the Di Candilo $10,000 Three Year Old Western Pleasure was starting!
  • The weather, which was very cold and had everyone rugged up to the eyeballs, but hey, at least it wasn't raining.

Going to NPHA makes anyone who attends as a spectator and has their own western horse, go home with a vow to improve and make it to NPHA next year. I am no exception and saddled up Teddy with the hope that maybe next year we might make the trek from Queensland to NPHA. If I was slightly disappointed that he doesn't quite lope like Smoochin, trot like One Hot Crystal or do everything like RQH Who's Ur Daddy, I'm not really too disillusioned. He could go back to a trainer and I could get fit again and put in heaps of practice - who knows what might happen in a year? in 2013, a whole new angle could be added to the Horsezone NPHA report, by writing it from 'behind the scenes', as a competitor!

By: Jo Johnson/Horsezone

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