Though he’d just finished clocking fast times in speed events, Chex By Wrangler took the inaugural ranch horse pleasure class at the AjPHA Youth World Championship Show all in stride.
The 2005 chestnut overo gelding by Starlights Wrangler and out of Poppas Old Flame performed with 14-year-old Joshua Briggs of Pilot Point, Texas, in the 15-entry class to clinch the world championship.
“My grandma’s been showing ‘Wrangler’ in the ranch pleasure, but this my first year to show the class,” Josh said. “It’s one more event for us to do, and it’s a lot of fun.”
In addition to ranch horse pleasure and speed events such as barrel racing and stakes race, Wrangler and Josh competed in cattle and roping classes.
In the end, it was Wrangler’s handiness and versatility that made him shine in ranch horse pleasure.
“He’s my roping horse, but he was started as a cow horse,” Joshua said. “Wrangler’s just so broke. He’s perfect—he does everything you tell him to and makes it pretty.”
Who Whiz Apaintedchic and Marissa Harrell of Waco, Texas, took home the reserve championship, with My Cowboy Cadillac and Sarah Orsak of San Antonio, Texas, finishing third.
Ranch Horse Pleasure first made an appearance at the APHA World Championship Show in 2013 as a sweepstakes class. Fifteen horse and rider teams entered the inaugural event for a chance at $3,500.
The class was then implemented at APHA-approved shows beginning April 1 after being approved as a class at the 2014 APHA Convention. Since then, the class has seen growing success and enthusiasm at regional and zone APHA shows across the country.
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About APHA
The American Paint Horse Association is the world’s second-largest international equine breed association, registering more than a million horses in 59 nations and territories since it was founded. APHA creates and maintains programs that increase the value of American Paint Horses and enriches members’ experiences with their horses.