LEADING RIDERS AND HANDLERS
FROM 2020 U.S., SPORT HORSE AND MID-SUMMER NATIONALS Computer research by Douglas Tatelman
Now in its 25th year, Totally Tops honors outstanding professional trainers and amateurs from the U.S., Sport Horse, and, historically, the Canadian Nationals. This year that show was cancelled due to concerns about COVID, and the Mid-Summer Nationals was held in its place. The tallies are based on the number of wins each trainer or amateur has accumulated as specified below. Congratulations to those who have made the list — numbers don’t lie, you really are Totally Tops in the Arabian breed. Congratulations from all of us at Arabian Horse World. Join us as we salute our Totally Tops 2020 winners. We thank them for their fine examples of horsemanship and for taking the Arabian to even higher levels of performance.
Totally Tops Disciplines – How we tallied the Tops for 2020
Things you should know about how we compiled the rankings:
• All disciplines include purebred and Half-Arabian wins. • Points are awarded as follows: Championship: 10 points; Reserve Champion: 7 points; Top Ten: 4 points. • A rider/handler must have at least two Top Ten wins or one Reserve Championship to be listed. • Totally Tops charts count only the horses actually shown by these individuals; every effort is made to confirm each rider/handler’s point tally. • Amateur classes are tallied separately from all other disciplines. Classes not included: • Sidesaddle, equitation, or exhibition classes; carriage pleasure driving classes; supreme classes; JTR and JOTR classes; U.S. National AWPA, AHPA and AEPA futurity and maturity classes. Classes included in each discipline: All amateur and junior classes are excluded from the following disciplines. • Halter — purebred and Half-Arabian halter, futurities. • English – Park, English pleasure, country English pleasure, driving, informal combination. • Hunter Pleasure – All hunter pleasure classes. • Show Hack – All show hack classes.
• Trail – Trail, trail junior horse, trail futurity, English trail. • Western Pleasure – All western pleasure classes. • Working Western – Reining, cutting, working cow, reined cow, ranch horse riding, and herd work. • Native Costume – All native costume classes. • Sport Horse Halter — Sport Horse In-hand, Hunter type and Dressage Type. • Sport Horse Performance – Working hunter, dressage, sport horse under saddle, hunter hack, jumper, and hunter/jumper. • Multi-discipline Pros – All trainers with points in two or more disciplines. The following disciplines are limited to classes designated by ATH, AATH, AAOTH, ATR, AATR, AAOTR, AOTH, AOTR, ATD, AOTD or AAOTD:
• Amateur Overall – All classes designated amateur from the halter, English, hunter pleasure, show hack, trail, western pleasure, working western or native costume disciplines. • Sport Horse Amateur — All classes designated amateur that would otherwise fall into the sport horse halter or sport horse performance categories.
A H W > 190 < W I N T E R 2 0 2 1
SANDRO PINHA, Champion Halter.
WORDS FROM OUR
TOTALLY TOPS
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WENDY POTTS , Champion Hunter Pleasure and Top Ten Show Hack.
MULTI-DISCIPLINE PROS CHAMPION Jim Hitt RESERVE Bob Bennett Jr. TOP TEN Jessica Wisdom Jessica Bein James Lowe Colby Powell Katherine Rich-Elzig Grant Krohn Gordon Potts Jill Mitchell
ENGLISH CHAMPION Matt Siemon RESERVE Jessica Clinton James Lowe TOP TEN Shan Wilson James Stachowski Shawn Rooker Joel Kiesner Jonathan Ramsay Joel Gangi Jason Krohn Ashton Kiesner
HALTER CHAMPION Sandro Pinha RESERVE Ted Carson TOP TEN Andrew Sellman Austin Colangelo Jeff Schall Kim Morgan Michael Byatt Grant Krohn Luiz Guimaraes Steven Heathcott Anthony Steiner
HUNTER PLEASURE CHAMPION Wendy Potts RESERVE Justin Cowden TOP TEN Kirsten McKillop/Royal Stephanie Sage Walker Cheryl Fletcher Jonathan Ramsay Cynthia Burkman Shannon Beethe Sally Randle Ali Brady Megan Jenkins Tamera Burkman Josie Gillespie Taryn Lundquist A H W > 191 < W I N T E R 2 0 2 1
WINNERS
No doubt 2020 was a strange and unique year. However, life is what we choose to make it, and thankfully our clients chose to make the most of the show season available to us. During the uncertainty and down time we worked just as hard as if we were getting horses and riders ready for an upcoming show. An old horse trainer once told me, 'Luck is for the mediocre. Success comes where preparation meets opportunity.' That is what we try to do everyday in every circumstance. I am so grateful and blessed to not only do what I do every day, but also to have the support of my wife, the hard work of my talented assistant trainer, and to have great clients and the opportunity they have given me with their horses. I’ve always enjoyed so many aspects of the horse industry and the diversity within it. I think that’s one of the reasons I like the Arabian and Half-Arabian horse. Taking a quote from the cattle industry, 'there is more variation within a breed than between breeds.' From a trail or cow horse to a park horse, the Arabian has the mind, heart and ability to achieve. Good horsemanship is good horsemanship regardless of discipline. Bottom line I guess I’m not very onedimensional. — Jim Hitt: Totally Tops Champion Multi-discipline and Champion Trail
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The secret to earning champions is not really a secret, it’s just perseverance and hard work day in and day out. There are days you don’t feel like working so you just have to push through and keep working! The main reason for our success is the fact that our business is family run. First my father, who taught me everything I know, second, being able to work with my wife and daughter and brother every day is definitely a blessing, and third is all the great clients and wonderful horses we have! — Matt Siemon: Totally Tops Champion English Pleasure
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JIM LOWE, Champion Show Hack. ANITA DUBLIN, Top Ten Trail and Top Ten Working Western.
JIM HITT, Champion Multi-Discipline Pro and Champion Trail.
NATIVE COSTUME CHAMPION Wyatt Budd Christine Higman Clements Julie Daniel Lance Lewis RESERVE Jessica Belt Tamera Burkman Sydney Landers Kasey Moffat Caralyn Schroter Katherine Showers Tristen Wikel TOP TEN Lori Foster Taryn Lundquist Jill Nelson John Rannenberg
SHOW HACK CHAMPION James Lowe RESERVE Devin Miller TOP TEN Shannon Beethe Tamera Burkman Cynthia Burkman Taryn Lundquist Diane Louw Wendy Potts
A H W > 192 < W I N T E R 2 0 2 1
TRAIL CHAMPION Jim Hitt RESERVE Jill Mitchell TOP TEN Jessica Bein Kathy Bast Sterling Bradley Michael Damianos Lou Roper Lindsay Harrison Dale Sullens Anita Dublin
JOE RESER, Champion Western Pleasure.
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Thank you Arabian Horse World for the Totally Tops Award in both the Working Western and Trail divisions,” says Anita Dublin. “Although 2020 was a trying year for all of us, It definitely gave us ample time to stay home and focus on horse training. Our small group was able to bring home eight champions, seven reserve champions, and 27 top tens between the Midsummer and U.S. National shows! This is a family business run by my husband, John L. Dublin, and myself. Our son Riley is our assistant trainer, and our other son, John Christopher, shows in the youth division. “Hopefully 2021 will give us more time with our beloved clients and horses. We all love our working western Arabians. — Anita Dublin, Top Ten Working Western and Trail
CRYSTAL MCNUTT, Champion Working Western.
WESTERN PLEASURE CHAMPION Joe Reser RESERVE Steven Scoggins TOP TEN Stanley G. White III Josh Quintus Elizabeth Bentley Abram Cotton Zane Bucher Colby Powell Danielle Stock Brett Becker Ron Copple Sarah Paripovich Jody Strand J.T. Keller
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WORKING WESTERN CHAMPION Crystal McNutt RESERVE Lance Scheffel TOP TEN Colby Powell Anita Dublin Eddie Ralston Skylar Powell Jessica Bein Gary Ferguson Nathan Kent Tye McDaniel Gordon Potts Roy Rich Jesse Chase
A H W > 193 < W I N T E R 2 0 2 1
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To say it has been a trying year for us all would be an understatement,” says Sandro Pinha. “To say, however, that it was a year to choose gratitude is the positive side. Ups and downs on every level came into each day, ultimately offering the choice to focus on what to be grateful for. Thank you to our clients, who in this time of uncertainty remained passionate about their horses and continued to entrust Gil, Sally, and our team all the way through. To end the year being recognized by USEF as an Equestrian of Honor was certainly a pinnacle of my career so far, and I have so many to thank for their roles in that. We made it through 2020 and look forward to 2021, which makes all of us ‘Totally Tops.’ Thank you to Arabian Horse World for continuing this program and recognition. Onward! — Sandro Pinha, Totally Tops Champion Halter
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BOB BENNETT JR., Champion Sport Horse Halter and Reserve Champion Multi-Discipline Pro.
AMATEUR
SPORT HORSE HALTER
CHAMPION Diane Franklin RESERVE Katie Harvey TOP TEN Tracey Dowson Kara Guy Mignon Stetman Patricia Gerdes Andie Szabo Lori Foster Amanda Golestani Amanda Purdin Standish Jill Nelson Nancy O’Reilly Lindsay O’Reilly French Madeline Camacho-Larkin
SPORT HORSE PERFORMANCE CHAMPION Alexis Starer Doughty RESERVE Jessica Wisdom TOP TEN Noelle Roberts Paris Mahoney Kristin Hardin Katherine Rich-Elzig Hannah Finch Ashley Doyal Lindsey O’Keefe Jocelyn Moore
ALEXIS STARER DOUGHTY, Champion Sport Horse Performance and Champion Sport Horse Amateur.
CHAMPION Bob Bennett Jr. RESERVE Wendye Gardiner Cara Phelps TOP TEN Alyssa Wiertsema Jackie Alkin Victoria Shaw Lisa Pembleton-Del Mundo Katherine Rich-Elzig Kim Lacy Trish Nelson Travis Mahoney Cindy Bingham Ashley Doyal Tony Jackson Jocelyn Moore
SPORT HORSE AMATEUR CHAMPION Alexis Starer Doughty RESERVE Granger Durdin TOP TEN Kimberly Graves Kelli Bennett Kolton Ford Paris Mahoney Alexis Forster Maya Isabela Chavez Jocelyn Moore Kathryn Devol Melissa Miller A H W > 194 < W I N T E R 2 0 2 1