From shattered dreams, Tish Schuster earns two APHA World Show titles

The daughter of a Paint Horse breeder, Tish Schuster of Meridian, Idaho, always dreamed about making it to Fort Worth, Texas, for the APHA World Championship Show. But growing up in a single-family household meant that purchasing a top-of-the-line horse or traveling to big shows wasn’t possible for the young horsewoman, though it didn’t dampen Tish’s dreams of one day riding into Cowtown.

Horses were never far from Tish’s heart, and she worked hard to perfect her riding skills; eventually, she purchased R Big Time Fame, a 2005 sorrel overo with World Show potential. The two bonded, and in 2021, they were ready to head to the World Show. But in March of that year—three months before the World Show and just two weeks before Tish’s birthday—“Bruce” colicked and Tish made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize the gelding.

“My World Show dreams were shattered, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever have the heart to show horses again,” she said.

But just three months later, Tish found herself staring at a Facebook ad for Zipped By Blue—and it was love at first sight. In kismet fashion, she purchased the 2020 sorrel overo gelding by Blue Skies Only and out of To Hot To Be Sleepy (QH).

“It was as if fate and Bruce had planned it all out for me,” Tish said. “Everything fell together.”

Together, Tish and “Armani” put in the work and made good on the horsewoman’s long-held dream to compete at the World Show. And while Tish just wanted to soak in the experience and perform to the best of their ability, the duo also earned world and reserve world championships in their 2-year-old in-hand trail classes.

“This is a dream come true. It’s fulfilling my childhood dreams of being at the World Show,” Tish said. “I just wanted to do the best that we could do. To walk away with two world titles—it hasn’t even fully set in yet. A lot of hard work has paid off.”