American Quarter Horse Association of New Zealand

The 2004 AQHA-NZ Silver Anniversary National Show commenced on Thursday 19th of February with American judge Mr Dave Whitaker of Tennessee officiating. Approximately 70 horses competed at the show, the numbers down from 80-100 horses in previous years.
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Waiora Roc n Choc & Jan Robinson - High Point American Registered Horse


Jo Dyer & Rhythm N Blue - Junior Horse Pleasure Winner


Sonitas Dream Bar & Tania Silich - Two Year Old Halter Maturity Winner


Ramblin Rose & Catherine Ladd - Junior Horse Trail Winner


3D & Alanna Smith: High Point Junior Youth

The show was held at Hawera in the North Island (close to Mt Egmont), so the weather is often cold, windy and wet, making us very thankful for the indoor arena.

Thursday started at 12 noon with the Showmanship and Halter classes. The Halter numbers well down, but the quality very good. Joel Gregory took out the Senior Youth Showmanship ahead of all the girls with Shud Cotton On, with Alanna Smith coming out on top in the Junior Youth with her consistent gelding 3D. Joel and Alanna also took out the High Point Youth awards in their respective age divisions. The Adult winner was Jozette Thode with GB Dynamic Zip and the Amateur Jan Robinson with Waiora Roc n Choc. Jan eventually took out High Point American Registered Horse with this gelding.

The mares showed first in the Halter with NZ registered Halter running before the American registered classes. Champion Mare was Breakin Hearts. The American Championship went to Waiora Classic Roc with Playgirl in Reserve. The gelding and colt numbers were down with Waiora Roc n Choc taking out Champion Gelding. The Champion NZ and American Stallion was the stunning new imported yearling Seek The Riches, by Ima Cool Seeker. Supreme Champion NZ registered QH was the great all-round mare Breakin Hearts owned by Leonie Huber.

The Yearling Halter Futurity winner was Seek The Riches with the lovely Playgirl coming in 2nd. Unfortunately the 2 yr old Halter Maturity was poorly supported with only one entrant, compared to up to 15 in previous years. It was a shame the lovely filly Sonitas Dream Bar had no competition. The Get of Sire winner was Poetic Roc.

There was a coffee and gear change break before the commencement of the Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat classes. The Junior and Senior HUS were the best supported with 15 horses in each. Breakin Hearts taking the Senior from Cotton Oak in 2nd. Blue Suede Zipper took out the Junior ahead of GB Radical Minnie. The winner in Senior Youth HUS was Leonie Huber with Breakin Hearts. These two also eventually took out High Point Horse (over all classes) and High Point Rider/Handler.

That afternoon the owners of the Supreme Champion were reminded that winning this title meant a 'Shout'. So at about 8pm most of the competitors gathered in a small shed out of the wind and rain and enjoyed the beer, wine and ice-cream (for the Youth) kindly provided by Bernd Huber. The evening ended rather late after antics such as dancing on tables and hanging from the rafters!

Friday started bright and early with the English classes. These were dominated by Tania Silich with Cotton Oak and Nicky Seyb with Lenas Playboy. The High Point English Horse going to Cotton Oak.

The 3 yr old Pleasure Futurity was the first class of the day for our American judge. This class was taken out in style by Jozette Thode and GB Radical Minnie (who was awarded High Point American Registered Mare). The American Pleasures were followed by the Senior Horse Trail - won by Breakin Hearts ahead of Diamond Lee. Diamond Lee was the eventual High Point Western Horse.

The Junior Trail turned out the most entries for the show with 20 competing. It was a hotly contested class with the eventual winner being the sweet little NZ bred mare Ramblin Rose and Catherine Ladd, with Jozette Thode on Blue Suede Zipper coming in 2nd. The Trail was a neat challenging course with the rails cleverly spelling out "25 YEARS". Further Youth, American and Amateur classes followed.

The day finished with small entries in the Western Riding (Breakin Hearts and Blue Suede Zipper winning Senior and Junior respectively), and one entertaining Saloon Girl in the Freestyle Reining.

Saturday morning saw the running of the Western Pleasures - Cotton Oak winning the Senior Horse and going on to be High Point Senior Performance Horse. The one that filled the stands was the Junior Pleasure (17 horses), being split into two go-rounds. The tables were turned from the previous year's results when 1st was awarded to Jo Dyer riding her lovely grey mare Rhythm n Blue, with Jozette Thode on Blue Suede Zipper 2nd. Blue Suede Zipper was High Point Junior Performance Horse of the show. The Amateur Pleasure was taken out by Liz Kirkman and GB Hollywood Zip and Liz was also High Point Amateur Rider.

Junior Horse Reining was well supported with 14 entries, first place honours going to talented Reining trainer Ken Hawkins on Chex Please Doc. The cattle events started with the Senior Working Cowhorse won with an exciting run by Poetic Roc and Derek Robinson.

The Barrel Race saw much excitement and yelling from the crowd with the winner being the speedy Sugar Belle and Joel Gregory. The AQHA-NZ gave our Brazilian barrel-racing visitor Rafaela da Silva a huge smile when they gave her a complementary 1 day membership and allowed her to enter the Barrel Race. Good on you AQHA-NZ for making it possible.

Cutting brought our 25th Nationals to a close with the Open winner being Paid By Chex and Craig Laird. The show finished off with the annual prize-giving dinner. With all formalities over, a fantastic dance-filled night was had by all.