Ocala, FL – The Championship Show 2025 opened Tuesday at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) and continues through September 14. Day one brought the spotlight to Indoor Arena 1 with three highlight classes: the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open & Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure, the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open & Limited Rider Open Hunter Under Saddle, and the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Open & Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure.
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure & Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure
In the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure, Shannon Curl-Holbin piloted Gumz Farm Quarter Horses LLC’s Ten Kinda Southern (Its A Southern Thing x KM Perfect Ten) to victory.
Curl-Holbin has been partnered with the 2022 gelding since he was a yearling. “I started showing him this year. We’ve had him since he was a yearling, and we broke him out for his riding career. He was so good when we broke him. Usually, it takes some time to figure out what the horse is going to do, but with him, we knew pretty quickly that he was special.”
From the start, Ten Kinda Southern stood out in the show pen. “We started in Virginia and won there. Actually, we’ve won everything we’ve been in so far. The thing about a streak is that at some point, it has to end,” she laughed. “But, we are going to try to keep the momentum going. He’s just such a great horse. He’s so big, and I think that’s what is so striking about him. His lope is his money gear; he’s so slow-legged, fancy and exotic. We are very excited about him.”
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure Top Three Results:
1 Ten Kinda Southern, Shannon Curl-Holbin, Gumz Farm Quarter Horses LLC
2 Lady Mamalade, Christopher Holbin, Angela Wade
3 Frank The Tankk, Katy Jo Zuidema, Karen Wood
Mallori Bordic and Win In Doubt, a 2022 gelding (No Doubt Im Lazy x Best Served Hot) owned by Sriya Chandrupatla, took home the Limited title in the NSBA 3-Year-Old Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure class.
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open & Limited Rider Open Hunter Under Saddle
Eleven horse-and-rider combinations gathered in Indoor Arena 1 to vie for top honors in the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle. It was Sara Simons and Stephanie Mohindra’s A Top Gun (Required Invitation x Ms Silver Sensation) who rose to the top of the leaderboard.
The 2022 gelding has been on a strong roll this year. “We raised him,” Simons shared. “I showed his mom, and he’s really special because of that. He’s won a lot of things for us this year—probably close to $40,000 in earnings. He has such a great expression. You can help a horse move, but presence is something they either have or they don’t, and he has such a unique expression about himself that really stands out.”
Simons noted that A Top Gun is even more laid back than his dam, Ms Silver Sensation. “I kind of joke that he’s like a plow horse. You would never know he’s three years old,” she laughed.
A frequent competitor at World Equestrian Center – Ocala, Simons expressed her appreciation for the venue. “It’s a magnificent place that we are very fortunate to be able to show at a couple of times a year. I’m thankful his owner sent him here to show, because this is his last one for the season. He’s a Paint, so he shows against the Quarter Horses for NSBA. I’m judging Congress this year, and the Paint shows are done, so I’m just happy we were able to show him here one more time.”
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results:
1 A Top Gun, Sara Simons, Stephanie Mohindra
2 Shezza Outlaw, Jamie English, Brenda Ramirez
3 Dancin N Sleepin, Jennifer Reams, Sarah Hooks
In the Limited Rider division, Jennifer Reams piloted Dancin N Sleepin (Too Sleepy To Zip x Dancin For A Buck), a 2022 mare owned by Sarah Hooks, to the win.
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Open & Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure
The $10,000 NSBA Maturity Open Western Pleasure closed out Tuesday’s featured classes in Indoor Arena 1. In the end, it was Rusty Green and Start Ur Engines (Machine Made x Momma Knows Best), owned by Yvonne Robeson, who claimed the victory.
“He’s a nice horse,” Green said of the 2018 gelding. “We bought him a year and a half ago for Yvonne, who’s from California. He takes really good care of her. He’s the same for her as he is for me in the pen. He’s got a personality of his own, but he’s a trooper and such a nice guy.”
As a local to Ocala, Green also shared his appreciation for showing close to home. “We’ve lived here for about seven years. It’s so nice to have the versatility to go inside and outside. Everyone has the same amazing stalls, the arenas are immaculate, and it’s just such a nice experience to bring your horses here.”
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Open & Limited Rider Open Western Pleasure Top Three Results:
1 Start Ur Engines, Rusty Green, Yvonne Robeson
2 Monkey Cee Monkey Do, Jon J Allen III, Brenda Lombard
3 Made N May, Robin Shiflett, Carmen Mayabb
The Limited Rider title went to Jon J. Allen III and Monkey Cee Monkey Do (Gone Viral x Breezy Version), a 2019 gelding owned by Brenda Lombard.
Competition at The Championship Show 2025 continues through Sunday, September 14, at WEC – Ocala. To learn more and view the competition schedule, click here.