Kayla Wright, Winner of Charles Wilhelm’s “Ultimate Super Horse ChallengeTM” NWHE Oregon, 2016
“And the winner, with a total score of 1064.25 points is, Kayla Wright on her 8 year old APHA gelding, Gunner!”
In the horse world where the typical scenario is one horse/one discipline, respected horseman Charles Wilhelm is taking another route.
“I’ve always believed that every horse should be multi-talented, much like a versatile ranch horse,” says the California trainer and clinician. “Each and every horse should be able to quietly do a variety of tasks and exercises with confidence and success. Having a Super Horse is a great goal to shoot for, and even if you don’t accomplish that final ‘Super Horse’ level, the training process will help fill in any ‘holes’ in training the horse might have. For instance, I’ve seen top level dressage horses who shy at a cavaletti pole on the ground, and world class jumping horses who were out of control on an easy trail ride. These may be great horses at the one thing they do, but in my book they aren’t Super Horses. A Super Horse can appear in a parade one day, work cows the next, compete in an equitation class the following day — and more. The Super Horse can do all that with lightness, cadence, carriage, fluidity and responsiveness.”
One of the great bonuses of having the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge at the Horse Expo was that these horses were exposed to huge crowds, golf carts, babies crying, horses all around them, bursts of applause, loud speakers — all kinds of environments and noises that you can’t duplicate at home. It’s great exposure for the horse. You can’t buy that kind of training!
The three days of competition included the following:
· In-Hand Performance
· A Ranch Riding pattern and
· “Dancing with Cows”
· Meet & Greet at the front gate of the Expo, to simulate a parade
· A Trail Equitation Pattern: Including trot poles, sidepassing, up and down transitions, gate and bridge
· Super Horse Challenge Grand Finale: Extreme obstacles with a carwash, crossing a large tarp, dragging an object, balls, jumps and more.
Each event was judged by 3 judges Peggy Cummings, Jason Nagel and Mark Bolender.
After the scores from all six events were tabulated, the overall Champion was Kayla Wright, a 19 year old from Sandy, Oregon. As champion, Kayla won a custom saddle designed by Charles Wilhelm. She also received a beautiful Championship belt buckle provided by Northwest Horse Faire & Expo, along with Clippers from Andis, Supplements from HorseTech and other great prizes from the Super Horse sponsors.
The Reserve Champion was Lynne Knox on her 12 year old QH mare Jewel. Lynne was presented a $500 cash prize, clippers from Andis, supplements from Horse Tech and other goodies.
Third place – Sheri Wheeler on Honey
Fourth place – Tammy Burgard on Top Notch Lark
Fifth place – Dee Myers on Ariel
The response from the audience, competitors and sponsors was overwhelmingly positive. “The support of our sponsors was one of the real keys to making this event such a success,” says Wilhelm. “I would like to thank our Super Horse Sponsors: Horse & Rider Magazine, Andis Clippers, HorseTech, Manely Long Hair, EquestriSafe, Northwest Rider Magazine and Equine Hydro T and a big thank you to Northwest Horse Faire & Expo for the opportunity to showcase the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge.”
