Entrants saddle up for horse contest in Oklahoma City
BY BRIAN SARGENT
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Published: November 7, 2009
Cynthia Stewart has been dealt adversity during the past few weeks. She cracked a bone in her left arm, was involved in a vehicle accident during which her horse trailer flipped several times, and got three flat tires on her pickup.
Above: Paul Gonya of Purcell holds the hand of Becky Shelton as she rides So Suddenly Good on the way to practice the trail course at the horse show.
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Horse show
What: The American Quarter Horse Association’s Bank of America Amateur and FedEx Open World Championship Show.
When: Through Nov. 21.
Where: At the Jim Norick State Fair Arena.
Tickets: General admission tickets are $7, reserved tickets are $10, and box seat tickets are $12. For tickets, call OK Tickets at 948-6827.
Information: For a complete show schedule, go to www.aqha.com.
No one would have been surprised if those setbacks kept Stewart from competing in the
American Quarter Horse Association’s annual
Bank of America Amateur and
FedEx Open World Championship Show. Yet, she pushed her problems aside and is among the 3,500 participants entered in this year’s event that runs through Nov. 21 in
Oklahoma City.
Stewart was scheduled to compete in today’s qualifying round of barrel racing. Despite struggles, she said there would be disappointment if she and her horse, Flinns Best Bug, didn’t perform well before heading back home to Cody, Neb.
"You’ve come this far. You’ve worked that hard to get here,” Stewart said. "If you don’t make it, it’s just like, ‘What’s my purpose here?’”
Other riders traveled long distances, both literally and figuratively, to compete in Oklahoma City.
Keith McDonough drove 35 hours from his Rainer, Wash., home with his horse, Due Me in Gold.
He said he barely qualified for the world show. It took him eight events, one as far as
Las Vegas, before he accumulated enough points to meet the criteria for his division.
"I went to the very last day that I showed, to the very last judge,” McDonough said. "I got my last half point.”
Barrel racing and pole bending aren’t popular events in
upstate New York where
Ashley Barnhart lives. Like McDonough, Barnhart had to compete in several qualifying events for the world show.
"You just can’t wait to get here and compete,” Barnhart said. "To compete with the best in the world is exciting.”
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