Susan Johns Earns World Championship in AQHA Amateur Select Trail

[Source: NSBA.com]

Susan Johns and Heza Radical Zip mastered a tricky Trail course on Thursday to earn a score of 234, winning the AQHA Amateur Select world championship title and the NSBA bronze in the process.

Johns has owned the ten year old bay gelding, by Radical Rodder and out of Sonnys Last Zip, since the end of his two year old year. “Becky Schooler had him and had showed him in the Open Two Year Old Western Pleasure futurities,” she said. “Jim and Deanna Searles added his lead changes and started him over poles, and we’ve been showing in Trail and Western Riding ever since. He has won an AQHA world championship in Horsemanship, and has a reserve world title in Horsemanship and Western Riding. I’m excited to win his first Trail world champion title.”

“He is the funniest horse,” Johns said of her gelding, known as Troy. “He hates to work in the middle of the night. If you have to work during the night, you’ll pay for it the next day. We did the Trail warm up last evening and gave him a late dinner, and he was a little grumpy. This morning we longed him and his breakfast was waiting on him when he came back. He really likes his routine!”

The Tim Kimura-designed pattern featured several challenges for exhibitors. “I think the two most challenging parts of this pattern were what I can the tunnel and the walkovers at the end of the pattern near the outgate,” Kimura said.

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